Newborn
by InaLinger - CinaBard
Summary: Mick is missed since one year.In searching for him Beth and Josef are confronted with an organization which wants to exterminate a greater part of the vampire population.Much too slowly they figure out the cruel relations to Mick's disappearance.Rated T/M
1. Prolog

_*Hi everyone! This is my first __attempt to post a story in English and I'm very nervous about that. I'm a big fan of 'Moonlight' and was very sad about the cancelling of this great show, so I decided to let the story of Mick and Beth and all the other adorable characters (especially Josef) go on in my fantasy. I first wrote it in my mother language (German) and am now working at the second part, so I can tell you 'Newborn' is actually finished and it has got 62 chapters. I just have to translate it with some of my German readers and the help of Dharke, who was the beta-reader for the first chapters (thanks a lot for it!). Because of the translation work the updates will took a while but I promise to give my best. I hope you'll enjoy reading this. Yours, Jenna*_

_P.S. I urgently need a Beta-reader to rework later chapters before posting them here. So if you love 'Moonlight' as much as I do and like correcting a lot, don't be shy! ;0)_

_P.P.S. There will be a higher rating for some later chapters due to – guess what - scenes containing violence and sex._

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Disclaimer: Mick, Beth, all other characters and the story-line of the second season are borrowed from the great Moonlight-show, that I miss so much, and so are the property of others.

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**Prolog**

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„_There's no reality except the one contained within us. That's why so many people live an unreal life. They take images outside them for reality and never allow the world within them to assert itself.__"_

_Hermann Hesse_

* * *

There are questions you shouldn't ask yourself. For example the one asking for the meaning of life. Or the one asking for the true sense in love. Questions you think you can answer easily, after a few minutes of taking stock of oneself. Given, you possess a certain intelligence and life experience. Maybe you would indeed answer them quickly, just to show the others how much more you know about life and how sapient you are. But then… then, all by yourself, you would start to think about your own answers again. You would start to brood about it – at first just about those questions, but before long, your own life, your own acting and thinking would get into the spotlight of all your thoughts – especially your own mistakes, the many wrong decisions and sad moments, which come along with a long life and although you wouldn't want it to happen and there would be no more unfavorable point in time, you would be suddenly in one of those really terrible life crisis…

Thus far it could go with just one innocent question. In the blink of an eye questions could become your most bitter enemies - particularly when you are the one who is posing them. Because many times the answers you know are the ones you fear the most.

But worst of all are the questions you never asked and never will ask, for the person you wanted to address them to, lives no more. If you had asked them, the answers and reactions maybe could have been some of the most beautiful things, the most beautiful experiences in your whole life. Those questions could have become your best friends, for they would have opened doors, which had been kept closed too long. But now in that unspoken state they become a sheer torture, for they become absorbed in the probabilities of an unlived future.

But yet… you cannot escape the questions of your life. You can only decide, how to react to them and no matter what you do, at some point you will always have the feeling that you have taken the wrong decision.

For example, take a look at me. I prefer to avoid the questions I am asked when they are too unpleasant – with humor, sarcasm and sometimes just with silence. I am loath to reveal my feelings, even if it would be important, even if it would be my best friend, who would like to understand me. I have many secrets but just one friend, whom I trust so much, that he knows some of them… just one friend.

There were just a few people in my long life, who affected me deeply. And none of them I really wanted to let into my life, none of those persons I wanted to show, who I really am. And yet I couldn't really struggle against it, for somehow in some strange way I felt so grateful to those persons, as if suddenly a twin had grown out of my chest. A twin who cannot be more different and yet is so appallingly close to me. The soulmate everyone is searching in his life and is found by just a few. Two times in four hundred years fate brought me a soulmate and forced me to love them and to suffer. With them I wanted to talk about everything that touches me, with them I wanted to walk through this life, through all the wonders and dangers of this unlimited world – this world full of possibilities. I wanted them to get close to my innermost self, I wanted them to see who I really am and I wanted to permeate them, to understand them so entirely, that they would never ever have to fear to give up on themselves. Like me once, when I had to face the questions of my life all by myself.

But by the loss of the one person, by the ache and the fear I had to suffer, I didn't really give the other one a break to realize what he meant to me.

And so what I wanted and what I did, became two totally different things, for the barriers I built up inside all over the years, cannot be broken down easily. The secrets I kept for so long don't want to be discovered. And just when somebody, who means so much to me, turned to me with those questions, those questions reaching out for my innermost feelings, just then I always came to the wrong decision. Just then I became the person who I am for everyone, the one who rather strips off unpleasant questions with a funny remark than to expose too much of himself. Just on rare occasions he was able to filter down to me, the second love of my life. And every time I was thankful for that – just to react the next time in the same way.

So it took time to get close to each other, for without giving there is no taking. Some friendships grow slowly. Some feelings are not declared, some questions never asked. Because sometimes it is too late…


	2. The List

**The List**

"Mr. Kostan?" The voice was hardly soaking through to me, thus far my thoughts had carried me away. "Did you hear, what I said?"

Did I? I had to admit, that I was indeed a little bit confused. The little walk to Mick's apartment this evening, to sit down on his office chair to feel somehow a little bit more close to him, seemingly hadn't been such a good idea.

I cleared my throat and tried to strike my typical arrogant note, to dissemble that he had caught me with my pants down. "Terry, did you ever have the sense that I'm cloth-eared?"

"No, Sir, I…"

"… but if the sound of your own voice pleases you so much, you're allowed to repeat yourself again."

For a moment there was silence at the other end of the phone. Then it was Terry who cleared his throat. "I… uh… well, like I said, someone had sent a package by airmail, and you told me, if that happens…"

"Is it from New York?" I interrupted him hastily and couldn't prevent my undead heart from suddenly beating like mad.

"Yes, it…"

"Open it and fax the content to the number you can see on your display!"

"When?"

"Five minutes ago!" I broke the connection, jumped on my feet and took a large step to the fax machine. For Chrissake, why had all the electrical appliances in this office been turned off? The fax was aspirating a purr, when I pushed the power-button, and it started to warm up. I could feel the blood of my dinner pumping through my veins and hear the valves of my heart opening and closing at speed. But I also heard something else, very close as if it was right beside me: a soft beep and then the opening of the door of Mick's apartment.

I lifted my head, closed my eyes and sucked the air into my nose. Perfume, human skin, female estrogenes… Beth.

That wasn't good. Not a really good point in time, even though I could have had imagined that she would appear here today. Exactly today it had been one year ago…

I almost cringed when the fax began to beep and then started the printing. Yet after a few lines I realized, that it was exactly the thing I had waited for: the list. And it had truly changed over the months. So many names were crossed… so many… And no one had really noticed their absence… only the ones, who were attentive, who knew what was happening behind the backs of the most people.

"Hello?!" Beth's voice sounded uneasy, almost fearful. Probably she had heard the noises in the office and didn't know, what she should think about it. But there was something else in her voice: hope.

"Who's there?" I could sense how she longed to say it, his name. But the hope was so small and fragile, that she didn't take the plunge.

"Josef," I called and could almost feel the twinge myself, that came along with my answer. I took a deep breath and unwillingly turned my back on the fax machine. The answer to the question currently torturing me the most had to wait – for the sake of her. That all was certainly not Beth's world anymore and the sooner she was fading out of it the better it was.

I squared my shoulders and slipped into the role I played to perfection: the one of the self-confident, charming, sometimes almost arrogant Josef Kostan.

With a soft smile I left the office, before she had the chance to enter it. Meaning: We crashed into each other in front of the door, with such a drive, that Beth bounced off of me a bit. Due to my vampire-reflexes I could grab her before she hit the floor.

"Whoops," I said and gave her a smile, while I was setting her carefully onto her feet again. I couldn't resist inhaling the smell of her hair.

"Hmm. New shampoo? Something with honey, right?"

"Um… yes…" She awkwardly pushed a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear and smiled. "You could have told me that you would come here today."

"Well, it was booked out for tomorrow," I returned laxly and moved towards the living room. "So I thought: Try it today. Don't worry, the Freshies are all gone. Didn't like the somber atmosphere…"

"I mean, you could have said something yesterday, when we went out for a meal," she replied unaffected.

"It was just you, who had a meal._ I_ had been watching you as usual – as a loyal wild card."

I sat down on the sofa and gave her an inviting nod. "But besides that, I wasn't the only one who forgot to mention the _Mourning and Memorial Evening_ at Mick's apartment." I reproachfully lifted a brow.

"I didn't intend to mourn," Beth shot back coolly. She held her ground very well today. "Actually my date would have to arrive any second, so…"

She nodded towards the exit and I pointedly put my legs onto the table.

"Oh, I'm very curious about that… After all it looks like I'm also running short of friends at the moment. Maybe your new boyfriend is interested in enlarging his circle of friends with a person who knows how to throw a party."

Beth couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, let's see," she grinned and sat down next to me. For a little while there was mutual silence between us. It is strange how fast people become acquainted with you in need. People you actually didn't want to let into your life. But Beth and I had spent so much time with each other by now, that…

"I… I just hoped to feel a bit closer to him, while being here." Her voice was very soft but there was so much yearning and grief in it that I felt my cool exterior crumble and my own sorrow forging out of me with all its might. But I didn't say anything. There was suddenly a big lump in my throat.

"I miss him so much." She took a deep and shaky breath but I couldn't yet see tears shimmering in her eyes. She wanted to be strong - also for me.

"Sometimes I have the feeling there's no sense in hoping anymore," she continued. "One year… think about it…" She shook her head resignedly.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Measured against my lifetime it's just a blink of the eye." I said with a low voice. Damn it! I didn't want to encourage her in hoping for a happy ending of this whole story. Not after all of that information I had collected in the bygone days.

She managed a little smile but quickly became grievous again. "Today Lieutenant Davis subtly indicated to maybe take into consideration that Mick might be dead," she said, her voice a little bit shaky. "As if I'd never thought about it! I've thought about it so often that it sickens me. But I want evidence! I don't want to give up just because… because it's possible…!"

Somehow Beth's thoughts made it impossible for me to stay at her side and I stood up.

Usually I owned a splendid self control – in contrast to Mick – and since Mick's disappearance I had been there for her, to comfort and to strengthen her, but today with all the new information in my mind and the noises of the fax in my ears, that maybe produced just that evidence…

"Josef?" I heard her ask a bit confused, while I was walking to one of the large windows. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. That was not the right moment to let the soft, vulnerable Josef Kostan come out, the one who was as much a bundle of nerves as the young woman who was slowly walking up to him.

"I… I'm so sorry", she whispered and laid a hand on one of my arms, which I had crossed in front of my chest. "I always forget how much you must miss him too. You've known him for such a long time…"

I coughed slightly to get rid of the frog in my throat. "I'm used to losses," I said harshly. "After four hundred years you should be able to handle that…"

"We don't know if he's dead," Beth replied in a tone which was seemingly intended to convey comfort, but I didn't want it. Still clinging to an illusion after a whole year wasn't healthy anymore. And real soon now everything would become very dangerous – especially for a human. As much as I had taken the young woman to my heart by this time, she had to leave this world for ever as soon as possible – without Mick. So I grabbed her shoulders and drew her close to me. I bored my eyes into hers, which she was opening wide now a bit terrified.

"Beth, this Davis-guy is right!" I said emphatically. "Mick is missing for one year now! It's a long time for a human and much longer for a vampire! He has a low tolerance for sun and he needs blood! Even if he's been locked in somewhere – how could he have survived without help, without protection, without anything?! You have seen yourself, what happened to him after a few hours in the desert! And it's not impossible to kill a vampire in other ways. Mick himself used to demonstrate it so often. One year, Beth! One year!"

Beth's facial expression was a mix of shock, agitation, grief, dying hope and anger while she came close to tears.

"Why… why are you saying that?" she uttered just in a whisper. "Josef… do you know something?"

I let go of her jerkily and turned my back on her, losing my temper again.

"Josef," she was urging and seized me by the arm with an astoundingly strong grasp, pulling me around. Not enough time to build up a masquerade again. And this tightness in my chest, this convulsion in my guts…

"You have kept something from me for a long time. Please, Josef…" She looked at me appealingly.

"You have to go…" I said softly. "Mick was right. You have to leave this world. It's getting much too dangerous for you, Beth."

"What are you talking about? Is it about Mick's disappearance?"

"Mick cannot protect you anymore," I went on unwavering, "that's why I'll do that." And maybe telling her the whole truth was the most effective way to do this.

"There will be a war, Beth. A war between humans and vampires. Actually it has already started behind the back of the greater part of the human population. And if you stay close to vampires any longer you will easily become one of the victims."

"Hold… hold on! War?!" She looked at me horrified. "What… what does that mean? Who could make war on you? I thought no one knows about your existence!"

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment. "Listen… Even Mick didn't know what I'm going to tell you now. There are just a few people who are informed about the things repeating again and again in the course of centuries. You have to keep it to yourself. No one – neither human nor vampire – should hear that you are informed about it! You got that?!"

Beth looked at me with wide eyes and nodded mutely.

"Let us sit down," I said and pointed at the couch. Beth followed my instruction willingly and I sat down so close to her that we could keep our voices on a very low level. She was very tense and excited, I could feel it almost physically and the fast beating of her heart was meeting its echo in mine. To inform her about everything was dangerous for both of us, but now we had reached the point of no return.

"There is a secret organization among humans, which is called _The Legion_. It exists almost as long as the vampires do and has set itself to observe the vampire population and to keep it within a limit if necessary. Whenever throughout history they considered there were too many vampires or that they were seizing too much power in the world, they intervened."

"In what way?" The shocked expression in Beth's beautiful eyes indicated that she was already guessing the answer to her question.

"By simply butchering a large number of vampires – camouflaged as justified acts within historic excesses of violence like the witch-hunting or the French Revolution for example. Also wars were always suitable causes so far for covering up the slaying of myriads of vampires."

"Oh, my god!" Beth breathed and her hand shot to her mouth aghast. "How awful…!"

"Currently the time has come again," I continued quietly. "But in the modern age they have to act more carefully and discreetly. The modern media makes it harder for them to execute many vampires at once. So they proceed slower than usual, catch from time to time a single vampire, when the going is good. I don't know, what the cause for this… reduction was this time, but at the moment they are in the act of minimizing vigorously the number of the vampires living in L.A."

"How many up to now?" Beth asked with a shaky voice.

"We don't know exactly," I admitted, "but it ought to be nearly fifty up to now. There is a list, where you can find the names of the ones, who, according to the _Legion_, have stayed long enough among the mortals. They cross out everyone they've killed."

I gave her a moment to handle all of the new information, inwardly hoping she would realize by herself what I actually wanted to tell her.

Her look was a bit absent for a moment and one could tell that her thoughts were spinning over, desperately endeavoring not to ask the question whose answer she didn't want to hear. But she couldn't help… Her eyes roamed to me, full of fear and presentiment.

"Was… was Mick's name on the list?" she asked under her breath.

I nodded briefly. She took a shaky breath.

"Was it crossed?"

For a moment I considered lying to her – just to cut it quick and easy. But I couldn't do it. As far as I knew Beth had always been honest with me and her presence had made the nasty time of waiting and trembling somehow a bit easier. She didn't deserve dishonesty.

"No," I admitted and I could see a wave of relief washing over her face. "But I had the list in my hands _before_ Mick had disappeared," I added quickly and a little bit too harsh. "That doesn't mean anything."

My reaction seemed to confuse her a bit but it didn't discourage her. "Just so. It doesn't mean anything," she replied. "We can conclude from that neither that he's dead nor that he's alive."

Now I had to stand up again. "Didn't you listen to me, Beth?!" I snapped at her indignantly. "The _Legion_ is hunting vampires to _kill_ them! Mick's name was on that list and now he's missing – how likely is it that he's still alive?!"

Beth looked at me startled while her eyes were filling with tears again. "Do you _want_ him to be dead?"

That was indeed a good question and it directly hit my heart, pulled the last bit of self-control, of stableness from under my feet.

"Yes," it burst out of me, "I want that… 'cause I…" I was struggling for the right words, "…I would be much better with that than to hold up the hope, that he's still alive…"

"Josef, that…" she began desperately, but I didn't let her finish. I wanted to talk to her, wanted to tell somebody finally, what had been burdening my soul for such an endless long time.

"'cause do you know, what this would mean?" I went on, while it got harder and harder for me to speak. My throat was cording up and I was breathing with great difficulty, for something was tightening my chest. "That he's somewhere out there… that somebody has locked him… and is doing terrible things to him… and I can't help him! I can't help him, Beth!" I was almost screaming my last words and quickly turned my back on her, because tears began to fill my eyes. I hated to be so emotional, but I couldn't help myself. Loosing Mick was a much bigger disaster than I ever would have acknowledged to myself. But the uncertainty about the things happened to him was much worse. It started to drive me insane…

"But maybe we _can_ soon," I heard her say softly. "We just must not give up, Josef."

I could see her dashing away a few tears, while I was turning around more collected again.

"If we gave up, he would be truly lost."

"Are you really still hoping to find him alive?" I asked her feebly.

"Yes," was the clear answer.

"You shouldn't, Beth", I returned resignedly. "You should keep Mick in remembrance and go. You should go back into your own world, forget us vampires and start a new, happy life. Forget that we exist, forget everything I told you and save your future."

"I can't," she responded softly and shook her head vehemently. "Not as long as I don't know, what happened to Mick. I need proof that he's dead!"

For a long moment I looked at her quietly then I nodded understandingly. I was feeling the same. "Yeah, you do," I admitted, turning around and walking to the office. My heart started to beat faster again and with every step I was drawing closer to the fax-machine, it seamed more like the muffled beating of a drum, like a gloomy drum roll, which was calling for a much gloomier knowledge. My fingers were shaking when I withdrew the many sheets of paper from the machine, but I didn't dare to take a look at it by now. It seemed as if Beth's presence could make the bad news more bearable…

She had stayed in the living room, was still sitting on the sofa, when I approached her again. "I actually wanted to spare you this, but…" I paused for a moment and looked at her questioningly. She nodded shortly and I went on.

"We've been successful in getting at the latest list of the _Legion_. Don't ask how. Lance has got many connections." I took a deep breath. "It has been sent to me per express letter a few minutes ago and one of my staffers has faxed it to Mick's office at my request. There… there was no time to look at it until now…"

Beth looked shaken at the papers I was holding out to her. For one heartbeat I thought she wouldn't grab them but then she clasped her fingers around the paper and removed it from my hand. My heart hadn't beaten so hard in a long time and my inner tension was almost giving me pain. One part of me was yearningly pressing for the truth, while the other one was screaming at me to run off as far as I could and to shut my senses to the outside world.

Beth was taking a shaky breath and began to flip through the pages. Her eyes were running down the many names, then they stopped…. and something deep inside of her suddenly broke down. The hope she had held onto for such a long time slipped from her all of a sudden and left behind just grief, despair and pain. The sheets in her hands were shaking while she shook her head in tears again and again.

"That… isn't true," I could hear her whisper repeatedly when I took the pages out of her hands, to see it in black and white myself. I found Mick's name at once. A long dark line was drawn through each single letter and in the margin somebody had noted a date and two letters. The day of his disappearance. I didn't know the meaning of the letters but it didn't matter to me.

The realization, that I had lost my best friend forever, hit me full tilt but it didn't throw me out off track or let me even become emotional. I suddenly felt just plain hollow and cold – as if only just the whole liveness had escaped my body. It felt like I didn't really exist any longer. I could watch myself approaching Beth, who had begun to weep bitterly by now and was sinking down onto the couch, unable to hold back her grief. I didn't really feel myself sitting down next to her and enfolding her quivering body in my arms to give her at least a bit of security and convey comfort. Her desperate sobbing wasn't really touching my inside, it was just my reason which was telling me that I had the duty to give her as much strength as I could in the last remaining hours together, so that she was able to say good bye to our world and begin a new life without Mick. And even when she had left the apartment after a few hours I didn't truly get back into my body. It felt like I had lost a part of me forever and there was nothing in this world that could bring it back to me. With this knowledge I left Mick's apartment at some point and when I closed the door behind me, it felt like somewhere deep inside of me a door had shut forever as well.


	3. Insights

_* I'm very sorry for posting the new chapter that late, but my betas and me were so busy the last weeks, we hadn't much time for reworking this story. I have to admit that this chapter is still not reworked by a native English speaking person, for both my Betas are not finished with their correction yet. Still I wanted to post the next chapter for I think you've waited long enough and I don't wanted you to be angry and stop reading my story. I'm sorry for every mistake in that chapter and hope you don't mind. And lot of thanks for your reviews!! It's so great to her that you like what I've written so far! Oh, what I almost forgot – as you'll now see the whole story is written from two point of views – Josef's (first-person narrator) and Beth's (third-person narrator) *_

_Edit: I thank toria515 for also reworking this chapter!! It's much better now, I think._

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**I****nsights**

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"_Maybe you must have felt love to truly understand friendship."_

_Sébastien Chamfort_

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Beth Turner hated two things more than anything else: resignation to the status quo, and an abrupt dismissal of her capabilities. She was a warrior by nature determined to overcome any obstacle to achieve her goal. When thwarted, her energies, charm, focus, and confidence rose to staggering heights. Unfortunately, Beth rarely considered the consequences of her actions when those she cared about were involved. She tended to forget her own self-interest and rushed to the rescue with fearlessness and courage that belied her small size Beth took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and pushed open the heavy doors to the Kostan building. She marched straight up to the reception counter in the middle of the entrance hall, clothing her face in a radiant smile. Beth knew that most men were unable to resist her natural charm.

"Is Mr. Kostan in today?" she asked directly. As soon as the man at the front desk had seen her walk into the building, he'd nervously started to smooth his shirt and hair, straighten his jacket, and rearrange his tie while awkwardly returning Beth's smile.

"Err… um… yes", he stammered but then remembered his instructions. "However, today he isn't receiving anybody, unless it's something terribly important."

"Oh, it is!" Beth smiled headed for the elevators. "Please don't announce me! I'm a surprise."

"But… but, Ma'am…!" he called to her helplessly as he started to follow her. But the elevator was faster and Beth stepped in quickly. She gave the man another mind-blowing smile when the door closed in front of his nose. She took a deep centering breath and tried to relax. Beth knew full well that she had to gather her energy to gain the victory in this upcoming fight with that stubborn vampire. Focus, her innate stubbornness, and perseverance were the keys to this situation. Yet somehow memories of the day about one year ago when she had also been standing in this elevator made her both excited and nervous. Back then she had sought Josef's advice about her future with Mick. It had been the first personal talk between them and somehow it had distinctly ameliorated their relationship. It seemed to her as if it had been just yesterday…

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_(Flashbacks will always be written italic from now on)_

_Luckily the office was empty. Josef was sitting at his large desk, eying her from top to bottom with relish while she was slowly walking up to him. _

"_Well what an infrequent visitor." He welcomed her with a charming smile and stood up immediately. "Unfortunately I already had breakfast – or didn't you come here to give me what Mick denies himself with such a vengeance?"_

_Beth returned his smile. "Maybe another time," she replied __flirtatiously_. _"But today it is about something else."_

"_Another contract killing to save the beloved one?"_

_Her smile disappeared abruptly. Damn, why was this man always able to put her at a disadvantage! "Excuse me," he smiled, "it was just too tempting to pass up. Do sit down." He gestured at one of the cosy swivel chairs that were elements of his new office, and took his place on the one opposite her. Beth accepted his invitation as she asked herself if it wasn't wiser to leave this place very quickly. To touch upon such a delicate and private topic with this sarcastic and ironic man was maybe not her best idea, especially because it always afforded him such pleasure to embarrass her in some way. Apart from Mick, there was no better person who could help her with this problem. However, Mick always evaded her when she wanted to bring up this topic._

"_So, you want to talk," Josef concluded, before she had said a word. "About Mick?"_

"_Yes," she admitted freely and felt herself blushing at the very thought of what she was about to ask. "About sex with Mick?" was the next surprising question. There it was again that mean, knowing grin._

_For a moment Beth stared at her opposite with wide eyes. How could he know that? She swallowed and tried to recollect what she'd intended to ask Josef. "More… in general… about sex with vampires," she tried to get out as calmly as possible._

_To her surprise Josef heaved an abysmal sigh. "Thank goodness! Finally! I almost thought you would never ask!"_

"_You expected me to ask?" Beth was confused._

"_But of course!" he smiled. "At the end, every relationship amounts to one thing: sex. Some are quick to learn that; others more slowly, and then there is Mick, the masochist, who is deeply yearning for physical affection, but is addicted to self-mortification. I barely think that he's the one who will make the first move in that direction." He clenched a motivating fist into the air. " You've struck a blow for women everywhere!"_

_Beth looked at him with a mixture of doubt and confusion and didn't quite know how to reply. This was all was somehow… weird. She was sitting here with a dangerous vampire she barely knew attempting to talk with him about such intimate things she only discussed with her best women friends. Additionally Josef seemed to enjoy it, for he was grinning again in that salacious way. _

"_But why did you anticipate that I would ask you anything?" _

_Josef leaned a bit forward, as if he wanted to tell Beth a secret. "When it's about sex, sooner or later any woman ends up with me." He took a short break just to give the hidden message enough time to burgeon in her mind. "But before we waste too much time with talking…" His gaze roamed over her body provocatively and that leering smile was back on his lips, "is it just about theory or also practice?" _

_Beth leaned backwards in her chair and succeeded in returning his smile in the same provocative way. "Theory. Practically I'm more the learning-by-doing type."_

"_And the fellow for that is definitely chosen?" Josef asked still smiling._

_She just nodded and he let out a regretful sigh. _

"_Well – for theory… I think for the moment we can skip the part including the different positions," he went on. "I think you're more interested in the part concerning the workings of Mick's vampire side when you come close to each other. Am I right?"_

"_More or less", Beth admitted reluctantly and regained some self-confidence at the directness of Josef's question._

"_How far did you get yet?" Josef asked with raised brows and a widening smile._

_Beth's face began slowly but surely to glow again. "Can't you just explain the difference?" she asked, purposely ignoring his intimate question._

"_Which difference exactly?" Josef asked back innocently. _

_She took a deep breath. She wouldn't let him play mind games with her again. This was just too important. "What's the difference between sex with a vampire and sex with a human?" she asked directly._

_Josef's brows jerked up and then he let his teeth bang together, shortly but distinctly. _

"_Oh," she mumbled automatically touching her neck. "That's all?"_

_Josef was grinning at her. "No. But I think, it's the most important difference – the one Mick fears the most… and… maybe you as well?"_

_She thought about that. Certainly in her imagination, the thought of losing blood while having sex was a bit frightening… but she had let Mick drink her blood before and it hadn't been that dreadful. Besides the neck was famously an erogenous zone, maybe it felt totally different there._

"_Some people like it," Josef interrupted her thoughts. "That depends on how much trust you have in Mick and how much you want him. It may give you a buzz if you are able to relax and just savour it."_

_Beth looked at him thoughtfully. "But why is Mick so afraid to bite me if it's such a pleasure?"_

_Josef shrugged and looked pensively at his carefully manicured fingernails. But when he looked up again, she knew that he wouldn't lie to her._

"_It has happened from time to time that vampires killed humans while having sex." _

"_Oh," was again the only thing she said. _

"_It won't happen to Mick, Beth – he loves you," Josef added instantly and furrowed his brow. "Seems as if I have more trust in my friend than he does in himself."_

"_Have you also…?" Beth didn't continue. Joseph realized what she was driving at and didn't seem to have any problems discussing his own sex life. It was quite the contrary._

"_Slept with human women?" he asked and his voice had suddenly a much softer, much more sensual sound. "But of course. I don't miss anything." He grinned broadly. "Killed them? No. More than 400 years of experience will do to develop enough self control in situations like that."_

"_Do you think 85 years will do it as well?"_

"_Do I really have to answer that question? You know him. Mick has managed to be close to you for a hell of a long time without pouncing on you, although you've wanted it. – If that's not self control…"_

_Beth's face was burning like fire by now, but she bravely kept to the point. "How long ago?"_

"_Mick and sex?" Josef thought for a moment then nodded. "You're right. That makes the whole thing even more exciting. Jeez, Mick is truly a paragon of self-control. That's almost…masochistic…"_

"_That means…?" Beth looked at him, raising her brows._

"_Um, four, five years," Josef considered, "I don't know it exactly. I wasn't always by his side. But I witnessed him refuse some really explicit offers."_

"_Oh, my…" Beth's hand was touching her mouth. _She_ couldn't bear such a long time without sex. _

"_Yeah, Saint Mick overdoes it sometimes with his monasticism", Josef sighed gloomily. "I begin to understand his reserve. Whoa, when he's on the loose…"_

_Beth looked down pensively and then shook her head. "He wouldn't hurt me," she returned calmly and was suddenly dead certain. "And he wouldn't kill me." "No he wouldn't kill you, but…" Josef fell silent again and his serious expression awoke a bit of anxiety in her. _

_She breathed deeply. "Well, then I ask you directly. What do I have to be prepared for, I mean, besides the biting?"_

"_That's a good and reasonable question," Josef gave back again with a faint smile. "And I'll try to answer it as adequately as possible." He drew a deep breath. "When vampires have sex it's different from human love-making. Wilder, unbridled, raw, sometimes almost brutal. Like I told you before, it's possible to lose our temper very quickly and then we just obey our very strong animal instincts. Vampire women like it for they're not very different, but some human women…" He shook his head almost unnoticeably. "Let's say the lesser evil would be if they are shocked and disappear never to be seen again. Others…" He took a long break for effect, smiling with relish. "Others can't get enough of it. It's said, if a women has once slept with a vampire and enjoyed it, she will never want to have sex with a human male again."_

_Somehow Beth felt a bit warmer inside. That explained why the kiss on the roof terrace had begun so intensely, unrestrained, almost violent. For a moment Mick hadn't been able to control himself anymore and had just come to his senses because of her softer influence. In her imagination, the thought of Mick lunging at her predatorily, ripping her clothes off, and taking her wildly and boisterously did anything but frighten her. She felt aroused. Her mouth was suddenly dry and her heart was beating much faster._

"_And if we have started once, it's very difficult for us to cool down again." Josef continued, as his voice grew deeper and softer. His gaze had also changed, had become more intense and searching. "Then just a slight touch will do to make our blood boil and to turn us into a weak-willed slave of our own desires. We are very untiring lovers." _

_Beth swallowed the huge lump in her throat and was unable to look at Josef any longer. She was certain that he could read her like a book, that he knew his description hadn't shocked or scared her, but rather had whet her appetite for Mick. _

"_You will have an easy time with Mick when you have persuaded him that his fears are totally unfounded," Josef added much lower. "And even if his fears come back afterwards, believe me, just one touch…"_

_Beth breathed deeply and now was looking into his eyes again. He seemed to be oddly aroused and his gaze was wolfishly roaming over her body for another long moment. Yet this time she didn't shrink from the look in his brown eyes._

"_If he bites me…"_

"_He will," Josef cut in and she had the feeling that he was now clearly breathing faster than before, "even if he doesn't want to – it's been much too long. He has lived the life of an ascetic and has had to control himself in front of you for too long. He can't prevent it."_

"_But maybe he will cut himself off from me again…"_

"_Yes, but this time you'll have more control over him, Beth," he reminded her eagerly. "His blood won't cool down so fast. If you corner him he won't be able to resist you. You have the chance to allay all his fears. You just have to want it."_

* * *

The clear ting of the elevator ripped Beth abruptly and cruelly out of her memories. She had reached the floor on which Josef had his office. When she left the elevator she had to ground herself again by breathing deeply. She didn't feel strong and determined anymore, but rather wounded and helplessly lost in her bittersweet memories. Her hand was absently touching her neck, which had worn two small wounds for a while – remains of an unforgettable, intoxicating night. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to remember how he had felt skin on skin, how he had smelled, and tasted and noticed, horrified, that the memories of the few hours she and Mick had together were slowly fading. Beth could not allow that to happen. She and Josef had to take care that they didn't forget Mick. Because of that alone, the suggestion to return tacitly to the 'human world' was totally absurd.

Beth inhaled deeply and walked on. From the floor one could directly enter Josef's office, and because there was no door she could hear voices from afar. He wasn't alone. The voice of another man responded to Josef's questions in a curt and concise manner.

"It looks as if the problems with their own people are much worse that we assumed. This odd behaviour can't be explained in any other way."

"Did they notice that we're spying on them?" That was Josef and he sounded a bit excited unlike his usual demeanour.

"No," the other voice replied. "As strange as Logan sometimes seems to be, he and his friends are very careful and pass unnoticed so far. Seems as if Mick's old friend is indeed a little genius."

Beth considered for a moment whether or not to stay outside the office and go on listening. Then she remembered that Mick had always been able to scent her from a distance and at least one of the two men in the huge room in front of her was also a vampire. So she walked on resolutely, while she wondered why Josef didn't stop the conversation.

"And you're certain that the men they are searching for belong to their own staff?" Josef insisted.

"Yeah, but they aren't just seeking them. If you ask me, they want to neutralise them once and for all," the other man responded. "By the way, Josef, I think you have a visitor," he added before Beth rounded the corner.

"I know," Josef replied softly and a warm smile spread over his face as she entered the room. He stood not far away from her in front of a table in the middle of the room. The other man, who was sitting on one of the swivel chairs ogling her from top to bottom, Beth had never seen before. He was tall and slender, wore his long red hair in a ponytail, and radiated the same natural arrogance, as did Josef. Beth assumed that he also belonged to the upper class. He wore a very expensive looking suit and white silk shirt, whose uppermost buttons were opened so far down that one could see more skin and hairs than one wanted. After the vampire had finished his inspection he looked up to Josef with a questioning smile on his face.

"A little snack?"

"Sorry, no," Josef smiled, while his eyes watched Beth, who slowly walked up to the two men. "And if you weren't the arrogant, bloodthirsty asshole you are, Henry, I might introduce you. But now I have to ask you to go."

"Oho!" Henry laughed, but most astonishingly he stood up instantly. He was in fact half a head taller than Josef, but still he appeared not nearly as powerful and dangerous as Josef did.

"Seems as if the days of generous sharing are over," he added.

Josef now turned to him. His smile stayed but it got distinctly cooler.

"I'll call you," he said. "We absolutely have to talk about that again."

Henry nodded but his eyes were resting on Beth and she didn't really like the expression in them. 'Bloodlust' was probably the most appropriate word.

Josef's hand dashed forward and he grasped Henry's neck. This time his smile rather seemed to serve him for just showing his teeth than kindness. "Put that idea right out of your head," he said in a low voice. "Otherwise you could lose it."

Henry swallowed heavily and then nodded reluctantly. He was able to leave the office without looking at Beth again.

For a moment Josef looked at her without saying a word and then shook his head with a faint smile.

"Haven't I told you to go and try living your life in peace and quiet?" he asked finally and proceeded towards his desk.

"Not literally, but roughly," she answered. "Since when did I ever heed the advice Mick or you gave me?"

Josef answered with a deep sigh and plunked down into his leather armchair. "Mick is dead, Beth," he finally said. She could almost feel how hard it was for him to speak the words out loud. "So, why are you still coming back here?"

Beth breathed deeply and then pulled one of the swivel chairs to the desk to sit down directly in front of him. "Your name was on the _List_ as well, Josef," she said with a steady voice. "And the names of many other vampires I've met because of Mick."

"I know," was the short answer. "And we'll handle that problem."

"Fine," she said, "_I_ will do so as well."

Josef knitted his brows in annoyance. "You will what!"

"I'll find out who belongs to the _Legion,_" she replied calmly. "And I will find out what they've done with Mick."

"You will not interfere!" Josef bent forward to her threateningly and his eyes were digging into hers. "That's got nothing to do with you anymore!"

"_Mick_ has nothing to do with me anymore!" she shot back. "For sure he has!"

Josef leapt to his feet. "He is _dead_!"

"So?" Beth was back on her feet as well. "I won't let them get away with that! They have to pay for it, Josef!"

"They will. But it will not be at your hands!"

"You're not my boss! I can do what I want to!"

"Then you'll die!"

"SO WHAT! IT"S MY LIFE!"

Her last outburst caused a dead silence between them. They stood in front of one another, bent forward, breathing heavily. Only the table was standing like a barrier between them. But the sorrow and fear, shown uncovered in Josef's eyes, slowly appeased her.

"If you want to protect me, do it properly," she finally said much more calmly.

"That means?" he asked reluctantly.

"Let me help you and stay close," she replied softly. "If I've learned anything in my time with Mick, it's that the best protection against any danger in this world is a vampire at your side. You're even older and stronger than Mick was."

"That doesn't mean anything," Josef replied and sluggishly sat down in his armchair. This discussion seemed to take a heavy toll on him. "Mick loved you deeply. He would have died for you. He had a very heroic side. I don't."

Beth gave him a caring smile and sat down as well. "Everyone can be a hero," she said in a low voice. "You just have to want it."

Josef let out a ripple of laughter. "You're a lot like him," he stated with a smile. "You're also as stubborn as Mick."

She grinned while at the same time she sensed that the pain in her innermost soul was gripping her again. She was not the only one in pain.

Josef evaded Beth's gaze, noisily clearing his throat before he could speak. "You really want to join us?" he asked looking at her urgently. She nodded decisively.

"Do you understand that that means you are fighting against humans in this war?"

"Not against all, but against that specific group of criminals, yes."

"You'd better understand: if you really join us, you won't come out of it unscathed even if the responsible persons are caught and punished," Josef warned her.

"I know," Beth responded firmly. "But it isn't just about that."

"So what else is it about?" Josef was a bit confused.

"About you," she answered honestly.

Her friend was now fully confused. He wasn't prepared for her answer and was totally overwhelmed.

"Josef, you've become one of the most important people in my life," Beth told the flat out truth. "Didn't you notice? I know we made a bad start, but now you're my best friend! I won't let them kill you as well. If they succeed in doing that then Mick will truly be dead." She thought that Josef would contradict her, but strangely he seemed to understand her completely. His eyes were shimmering suspiciously while he held her gaze, but he looked at her full of warmth and affection.

"When you left Mick's apartment two days ago," he said softly, "it felt exactly like that, as if Mick had now left my life completely, and the…," he had to clear his throat to speak, "… the moment you entered my office today, he was suddenly somehow …" He cut off in mid-sentence, rose and turned to the large window of his office.

Beth stood up immediately and approached him cautiously. She didn't want him to feel threatened, but she knew how important it was for him to let out all his grief and despair. She knew that Mick had meant much more to him than he would ever admit to himself.

"You know, there are many different kinds of friendship," she said softly. "Superficial ones and intense ones. Those intense ones, those that can last for a lifetime, which can give you so much, only a few people are able to find. But you and Mick, you were that close. I knew that. I could feel it."

Josef breathed deeply and haltingly. Then he turned to her and now she could clearly see the tears in his beautiful eyes. "He was my family," he whispered desperately and the first tears were running down his cheeks. "My family, Beth."

She nodded with complete understanding and then simply threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a comforting hug, so that he had no time for turning into the cool, controlled businessman again. Instead of that he leaned against her, reached for her and pressed her against his chest like a drowning person and cried noiselessly into her shoulder.

"You're not alone," she whispered and caressed his hair and his back, while tears were running down her cheeks as well. This time she was stronger than he; she was the one who could convey comfort and warmth. "We'll grieve this together, Josef, together."

It wasn't too long until Josef was able to regain his poise and adjourned for a short moment to the bathroom a bit embarrassed, but Beth felt that their friendship had reached another level. She felt closer to him than ever before and was sure that he felt the same. It was somehow astounding how close people grew together when they discovered commonalities – most of all when that commonality was the shared love for another person. Love tied close bonds.

When Josef came out of the bathroom he seemed to be much more collected and calm. His eyes showed a bit of insecurity that he tried to cover with a faked smile.

"If that is on the front page of some newspaper tomorrow, I'll know whom I have to visit," he joked as he sat on one of the swivel chairs.

"I don't work for the press anymore," she replied with a smile. "Although a bit of positive publicity wouldn't be that bad for you."

"So that my staffers think I'm a person with a soft heart?" he asked. "Then they won't let me fleece them anymore. Where would that end?"

She had to laugh and looked at him full of warmth. "But you have a good heart, Josef Kostan, even if you always try so hard to hide it. I sussed you."

"Don't flatter yourself," he retorted. "You won't see my soft spot so quickly again." He took a deep breath. "Let's get to the important things now. If you really want to help us, you should know as much as possible. Everything about our situation."

"Who are 'You'?" she asked instantly.

"A group of vampires, who got together for fighting against the _Legion_ and if possible destroy it," Josef answered. "We are mostly old vampires, who have survived several extinction strikes of the _Legion_ and know this organisation very well. There were a few half-hearted attempts to stand up against the _Legion_ but they didn't succeed. Our attempts cost many of the lives of other non-involved vampires whose names weren't even on the _List_. This time we're much better organized and equipped. The contemporary era has given us cutting edge technologies that could make it possible to defeat the organisation this time. And some of us have acquired a unique characteristic which makes it possible to get everything that we need for this fight."

"And the_ Legion_ doesn't know that?" Beth asked surprised.

"I'm sure they know," Josef gave back. "I think that's the reason why they're working slowly this time. They know that we're much more dangerous than ever before and that they've got to be very careful. They work in secrecy and deal with the younger vampires. They can get at the youngest more easily and most of all unseen."

"That means you're not as threatened as others?"

"We're all threatened. The _Legion_ works like we do with modern technologies and the most sophisticated tricks. They have to because they're humans. Otherwise they wouldn't have a chance. They are splendidly trained in close combat and own weapons produced just for killing vampires. They are assassins with the specific sphere _vampires_."

"That means basically they could march into this room any moment and just kill you?" Beth stared at him in shock.

"It's not that easy to kill me. You should actually know that Beth," he returned with a bland smile. "Besides, my new security system is much better than the one before. And there's a second reason why they won't appear here any time soon. I'm too much in the public eye. They have to come up with something special for me."

"You should hire two strong vampire bodyguards," Beth said seriously. "Just in case."

Josef was smirking. "I'll think about that," he promised half-heartedly.

"Let me just conclude then," Beth said. "The _Legion_ wants to decimate you, so that you stay a neat multitude. But this time they have to move carefully for you are on guard and they don't want other people to notice what's going on."

Josef nodded his approval.

"You yourself have founded an organization which is trying to fight against the _Legion_ and seems to be more successful this time."

"We hope so. But like I said, our technologies are much better than before and we have more people."

"How many exactly?"

Josef thought about that for a moment and then shook his head. "I can't say. Not just because I don't know it exactly but also it's better if you don't know the exact number – and most of all no more names."

"The vampire who just left, is he one of the members?" Beth asked nevertheless.

"Yes," Josef admitted after a moment of hesitation. "But believe me you don't want to know him much better."

Beth frowned. "Is he that bad?"

"Not all vampires are like Mick, Beth," Josef explained. "Most of them see humans just as food. I'm not much better. That I've threatened you in a fairly friendly manner was part of the Mick-likes-her-so-be-nice-to-her bonus."

"Friendly?" Beth repeated with raised brows. "At the beginning I had the strong feeling that I was a thorn in your side."

"In fact you were," Josef admitted openly. "You have biased Mick's thoughts and his emotional side completely. One couldn't do anything useful with him anymore. Beth here, Beth there, Beth, Beth, Beth…"

"Wow! You were_ so_ jealous!" Beth laughed.

"Oh, no, no…" Josef was raising his index finger, " just full of sorrow! I still had the whole terrible story with Coraline on my mind."

"You _were_ jealous!" Beth persisted on her realization.

"You were about to steal my best friend!" Josef laughed as well. "For sure I was jealous! _I_ wanted to spend my life with him and then you came along with your curves and blond curls and turned his head so much, that he even became human again for a while! I think I haven't felt any worse before. It was terrible."

He looked at his hands abashed for a moment. "After all it would have saved his life if he'd stayed human."

While thinking about that she had to confess that Josef was right. If Mick had been a human, he wouldn't have been that interesting for the _Legion_ and would now be at their side. She took a deep breath and looked at Josef again who was still examining his hands, as if there was nothing more interesting in this world.

She audibly cleared her throat to regain his attention and at the same time freed her throat from the lump inside it. "So, this Henry gave you some new information, didn't he?" she asked.

"Did you eavesdrop?" Josef asked with a smirk.

"You know that I did," she responded calmly. "You must have scented me when I left the elevator."

His smirk was turning into a mischievous smile. "What did you get?"

Beth thought for a few seconds. "That some people are searching some others out of their own ranks and are trying to kill them."

"'Some people' are the members of the _Legion,_" Josef explained. "And they have in fact problems with their own people. If I interpret it rightly there was a big battle between two sects within the organization. For now we don't know what it was about, but it must have been something that was inherently fundamental, so that the _Legion_ is now split into two groups at enmity who are trying to bait and punish each other. They even try to kill each other."

"My goodness, what kind of people are they?" burst out of Beth then a thought flashed up in her mind. "Can't we use that?"

"We'll try," Josef agreed. "Perhaps one of the parties is more willing to negotiate than the other one, when we are able to exert enough pressure. But first we have to find out who they are and what the battle was about."

"May I help you with that?" Beth felt an excited prickling in the pit of her stomach that always assaulted her when it came to researching important things. Her reporter's instinct was awakening.

"Um…" Josef moved his head to one side and looked at her pensively. "Maybe you really can. You surely have some old connections with people you worked with in your time at _Buzz Wire_, haven't you?"

She nodded eagerly and felt tremendous energies breaking free within her. Josef stood up, walked to his desk and came back with a thick file in his hands.

"Here," he said while pulling out three missing persons' reports with photos and displayed them in front of her. "Those are the only persons of the _Legion_ we know with names and photos and just because they are seeking them themselves."

Beth scanned one report after the other and frowned. "They're all scientists. That one is a doctor and that one… geneticist. Except this one here…" She took the last one into her hands and looked at it again a bit more exactly. "Owner of a company… divorced, two children… nothing special."

"Yeah, one wouldn't think of them belonging to a secret organization," Josef remarked. "And now they're missed. Oh, this one is a small exception…" He pushed one of the other warrants in front of her.

"Prof. Dr. Frank Peterson," she read out loud. "65 years old. Has finished his study of medicine cum laude and received several honours for his work within genetic research. Widower. Oh, his son died as well…" She looked up to Josef again. "What about him?"

"He's been missing longer than the other ones," he explained. "And the missing person report came from the university before the big bang within the _Legion_."

"But now they are searching for him too?"

"Exactly."

Beth's brain was operating at full stretch now. "Then maybe he doesn't really belong to the _Legion_. Maybe they have abducted him and now a part of the_ Legion_ has disappeared with him – but he's important for the other one as well."

"The question is just: Why?" Josef added.

"You know what?" Beth stood up, pushed the warrants together and put them into her bag. "I'll sniff it out!"

"That's right!" Josef smiled. "But don't forget the other guys. We need as much information as we can get about all of them!"

"Can do!" she called over her shoulder almost out of the office. Finally she had something to do. Finally she had something that freed her from her blue thoughts and memories of Mick.

"But take care of yourself!" she heard Josef call. She would. Definitely.


	4. New Traces

_*__ So, finally the next chapter is ready and I thank toria515 so much for reworking my chapters. Great job! I don't know what I would have done without your help! I can now promise all my readers the next chapter will be out next weekend and I hope I didn't lose all my readers. Sam Brody and moonjat 54: Thanks for your comments!! That motivates me to go on with my translation work. So, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and maybe leave a small comment? Best wishes, Jenna*_

* * *

**N****ew Traces**

Freezing cold. It crept into her feet, which were moving sluggishly across the smooth flagged floor. It crept into her skin, her flesh, and into her bones. Her mind was so befogged that she wasn't even able to take a safe step let alone walk straightforward. Again and again she rammed into the cold, smooth walls of the dark hall. She didn't really feel the collision, felt no pain, for her body was benumbed as well, uncontrollable and cumbersome. But she had to move it, had to go on, had to stress her numb muscles to escape before they discovered she was gone. On and on she fled, along the dark hall always moving towards the dulled light that fell into the inside of the building through a vitrified porthole. It promised freedom. It promised an ending of this endless suffering.

Something warm ran down her forearm. When she looked down she noticed she was bleeding. It was just a small puncture at the crook of her arm but it was bleeding copiously. However, something else confused her much more: It wasn't her own arm she was looking at. It was a man's. Her gaze roamed up this arm and then across her naked, slightly haired chest. She _was_ a man! A more emaciated, wiry, tall guy… but somehow this body was so oddly familiar to her…

There were voices behind her, hectic steps. They had noticed her flight and they were quick. She gathered all her strength and stumbled forwards as quickly as her wobbly legs could carry her. It wasn't that far anymore. Not that far.

Panic grasped her and her heart began to race. Her fear pumped quantities of adrenalin through her veins. She could not fail. She could not allow herself to fall into their hands again.

Something had suddenly begun to seethe internally. A piercing pain flashed through her musculature. It felt as if something grew and morphed painfully inside of her. A brutish groan was torn from her throat, roaring in her head, while the skin of her face stretched and expanded. She could suddenly see everything around her very clearly as if somebody had switched on a light – the wall tiles, the cross-barred steel doors, the heavy locks at the entrance door. The fog had lifted and made room for something different: Her animal survival instincts. All fear was forgotten and energies she had never known before were activated in her. She felt so incredibly strong, almost invincible. There was something else that raged inside her. It was a hunger, a dreadful hunger that pushed all other feelings to the back of her mind and freed a consuming bloodlust. Now she didn't want to escape anymore. She wanted to satisfy her thirst, to devour whatever approached her.

She turned around and a predatory smile appeared on her face as she watched the four men who were trying to hunt her down. She would rip them into pieces and pay them back for the pain and harm they had inflicted on her over such a long time. They deserved it. They had evoked the bloodthirsty monster in her.

The men were stopped by their leader's call. One of them hectically loaded his weapon while the others unfurled a nylon net prepared to catch her as quickly as possible.

She ducked and strained her body as she readied for the determining deadly leap. Her ears caught what no one else could hear, the soft metallic click of a trigger pushed down. It was her start signal. She leapt forward, turned in her flight, so that the missile just grazed her upper arm. She saw the widened eyes of the shooter and heard his terrified scream echo in her ears as she delivered a loud roar. To her it was like music, a prelude for the death throes that began the moment she landed on the man, carried him off his feet, and dropped him heavily onto the stone floor. Within seconds her fangs bored mercilessly deep into his throat, pierced through the main artery so that the warm, sticky lifeblood streamed into her mouth with tremendous pressure. She eagerly sucked as much of it into her mouth as she could get in the few seconds she had. She broke away to slash her sharp teeth into the forearm of the next attacker. He shrieked and let the stake in his hand fall. Again she was just able to draw a few gulps of her victim's blood for all her senses informed her that the dangerous net buzzed through the air to bury her beneath it. She was faster, leapt aside with catlike ease, pushed herself off the wall, and drove against her new attacker with such force that he went down as well. She clung to his collar and pulled him into a deadly embrace. The moment they both hit the floor, she burrowed under his body, her teeth dug into a pulsating carotid again. This time she couldn't let go of her victim quickly. She needed the blood, needed it so much and she sucked so much of it into herself with such force that his shrill screams died soon and the heavy pumping of his heart slowed quickly. She knew it was a mistake to abandon herself that much to her greed, sensed that more men were coming, heard their calls and curses – but she couldn't stop… just couldn't…

And then it came, the sharp pain in one of the arms with which she clasped her victim. The paralysis began instantly and just in that moment she returned to her senses. They would lock her up again. They would torture her again.

A deep, brutish scream ripped from her throat when she broke away from her victim and got to her feet again. The paralysis was spreading more slowly than usual… there was still time, she could still fight… could kill them, kill them all… end all of this…

Her attackers jumped out of her reach, terrified, and she saw him… that evil, cold man… He ran to them while loading his weapon.

"Hold on, dammit!" he screamed. She felt a wave of burning hate wash over her and without thought she darted for him, bared her teeth to rip him to shreds. This time she wasn't fast enough. The missile whizzed through the air and embedded itself relentlessly into her belly.

"NO!" a voice resounded loudly from somewhere as she fell. The second dose paralyzed her whole body within seconds. She fought for air and widened her eyes. Her attacker wasn't finished yet. He knelt beside her, resolutely pulled a syringe out of his coat pocket and rammed the needle deep into her chest.

"No! Don't do that!" someone screamed again and an old man with glasses fell to his knees beside her and held on to her attacker's hand with all his might. "You'll kill him! That's too much! He won't survive that!"

The other man just answered with a bump against his chest and pressed the serum with an expression of deep satisfaction in his eyes into her body. It felt as if an iron fist compressed her ribcage while liquid fire burned through her veins. All that stirred in her died. The old man's face appeared in her slowly darkening field of vision. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he whispered and skimmed his knuckles gently along her forehead and cheek. She couldn't see if he had tears in his eyes, for the glasses he wore only reflected her own face - Mick's face.

* * *

Beth woke with a start, screaming, and horrified. Panic stricken she sucked air into her lungs as if she had been asphyxiated. She jumped to her feet and stumbled a few steps through her bedroom. Her heart raced and she felt terribly sick.

"Oh, god, oh, god," she moaned again and again. Her trembling fingers fumbled for the light switch at her wall but even when the warm light flooded her room she couldn't calm down. Her whole body shook and she had to sit down on her bed to avoid sinking to her knees. Instantly tears came to her eyes. She buried her face in both her hands and couldn't stop herself from sobbing. That had been the most terrible nightmare she'd had since Mick's disappearance. It had never felt so real before as if all the terrible things had really happened just a few minutes ago. It was as if she had been in Mick's head and witnessed what he'd had to go through in that moment. That wasn't possible. He was dead. Dead.

It took a while until she had calmed down and was able to think clearly. Why did she dream something like that? Why had her imagination made everything much worse than it already was? Probably it was Josef's fears she had taken with her into her sleep.

"'_Cause do you know, what this would mean? That he's somewhere out there. That somebody has locked him up and is doing terrible things to him."_

Apparently her mind had to digest that loathsome idea. All year long she had successfully managed to push away such thoughts. Now she had to prove Josef right. Death seemed to be much better than being in the hell of this terrible nightmare. Still the feeling that this dream meant something haunted her.

A cold shudder ran through her body when the pictures of her dream passed her mind's eye. A deep sob was torn from her throat. She felt so small and weak. Beth hadn't felt that way in a long time and she was afraid. The feeling of safety that had accompanied her for a lifetime had gone with Mick. Even her growing friendship with Josef couldn't bring that back. Her guardian angel had left her alone. She honestly didn't know how she could go on with her life. Of course, it had been complicated with him but what relationship was easy? At a certain point she had just sensed that they had been made for each other, that they were soul mates. She had wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. A turbulent life, assuredly, but a life deep in love and trust.

Someone, some dark power hadn't grudged her this love. Now she sat here alone with her terrible nightmares and longed for the love and safety she'd found in Mick's arms.

She breathed shakily and wiped the tears from her face. As sad and desperate as she felt, dwelling on melancholic thoughts didn't help. She wasn't able to return to sleep. She took a deep breath and left her bedroom.

After brewing tea, she snuggled up in a blanket and sat down on her couch with the documents Josef had given to her. The next moment her teacup almost slipped out of her fingers. She closed her eyes for a second, put the cup onto the table, and held her breath. She looked at the picture again. It was laying on top of the paperwork, an elder man with glasses and a friendly face. It was crazy but she was absolutely sure that he was the man from her dream, the man who had tried to protect her, and the one who had looked her in the eye at last. Beth laid a hand on her madly pounding heart as if she could calm it this way and thought hard. Well, she had briefly seen that picture yesterday, but could that explain why he appeared in her dream in such an urgent way? He had been a person with a soul; she had been able to hear his voice and felt that he wasn't evil. She trusted him. How could she know him that way? Of course it wasn't from just looking at a picture. Furthermore he had looked different in her dream, older and more strained. This was really crazy!

She put the photo away and scanned his resume a second time. He'd been medical superintendent for internal medicine at a hospital in Los Angeles and had dedicated his life to genetic research. Mainly he had been busy with Autoimmune Disorders and mutations and received several prizes and awards within those fields. Later he had worked as a professor at the university. Beth turned the next page and stopped short. The missing person report she was holding in her hands had been issued only two weeks before Mick had vanished. The names of the ones who had announced it, Diana Keppler and Brian Ross, seemed familiar. Beth's guts knit together for a moment. She had seen them somewhere before. She closed her eyes and tried to focus.

"Come on, Beth, come on…" she encouraged herself. Work? No. News? No. Where? Where? Mick! Her hand shot to her mouth. Oh, god! It was the answering machine. A few days after the Professor's disappearance a young man had left a message and mentioned those names. She was dead certain about that. She had an impeccable memory well honed from her work as an investigative reporter. Her heart had set a pace that couldn't be healthy but she didn't care. Suddenly she knew that in this second something had happened that was completely unexpected. She had already found a trace, a trace that might bring light into the darkness surrounding Mick's disappearance. Abruptly Beth knew what she had to do and stood up decisively walking to her closet.

* * *

The room was small, dark, sticky and crowded with technical equipment. One could barely move without bumping something and in doing so one served unwillingly as a duster. If my request hadn't been so urgent – not even ten iron willed Freshies would have been able to get me here. However, I needed answers and to get them, I needed Logan, the inhabitant of this disgusting hole, who at that moment was entering instructions into his computer with a torturous calmness. Every once in a while he peeked at me.

"Yeah, I know. It's not quite the loft," he finally sighed. "But it'll have to do as long as there is no sponsor who is willing to support me a bit."

The hints he gave for activating my money supply weren't just broad anymore. He was throwing whole donation boxes at me! I acted as if I hadn't heard him and just went on pacing up and down in that shed, hoping and praying that he would find something very soon.

"Can't you do that a bit more quickly?" I snarled after a while and stepped aside disgusted as a cockroach crossed my path.

"I do my utmost," Logan replied with a yawn. "This's just not my time."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Next time I'll certainly ask for your office hours," I replied with a ghost of a smile. "Of course I don't want to take away the few hours of sleep your short life is granting you!"

Logan dared to look up from his work and turn to me. "Why the hell are you in such a foul mood?"

"Foul mood? Me?" I repeated sarcastically. "Don't! Stop it! I _love_ to spend my time in this musty cellar-hole, where there's nothing for me to do except pointlessly stand around stuffing one note after the other into your eager paw. Who needs a light, friendly loft if he can be in a place like that?" I spread my arms and beamed at him happily just to look at him severely the next moment. "I tell you, if I'm not out of here with a heap of information within the next fifteen minutes, I'll roll up my sleeves for the first time in years and wipe the floor with your ass!"

"Chill." Logan lifted his hands defensively and got back to work.

I just shook my head. Why were there so few vampires with style? Probably for the same reasons there were so few humans who knew how to live stylishly. When you were turned into a vampire maybe your living conditions changed but your character, it stayed like it had been before, – in large parts anyway. Logan looked like a freak and lived like one. It was hard to imagine it could have been different at some point.

"Okay… maybe that's something," I heard him say suddenly and was instantly at his side. Several pictures and data had appeared on one of his screens. None of it meant anything to me as yet.

"The _Henderson & Field Corporation_ is a subsidiary company of the _Saxton Corporation_. Besides the production of pharmaceutical products it also runs several research labs. Two on the outskirts of L.A… oh, one burned down lately, and one around Bullhead City in Nevada."

"Hold on… burned down?" I asked keen-eared. "When did that happen?"

"Err… about two weeks ago. Why?"

I didn't answer for my thoughts were spinning now. Exactly at that point in time the big bang had happened within the_ Legion_. This was no coincidence. Somehow everything was connected. And an urgent feeling in my chest was telling me that I needed to track it before the doors closed again.

"Who gave you the hint to check out the _Saxton Corporation_?" Logan asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I wish I knew that," I said pensively and almost believed it myself. "It was an anonymous e-mail. I noticed it briefly before I went to bed."

"Oh, wait, wait!" Logan looked at me searchingly. "The hint was given by… _someone_? What was written? Dear vampire, I'm very worried about you. Here's a hint on how to see through the games of the _Legion_. A fan."

I looked at him, annoyed. "Of course not," I muttered although I knew that his confusion and doubt were justified. At least concerning my white lie.

"What then?"

I breathed deeply. "It… it was more… about…" Mick. And my informant had been no other than his again presumed dead ex-wife, who had called me in the night and had turned my insides upside down with her weird insinuations and half information. I certainly couldn't talk about that with Logan.

"Just… just do what I tell you to do," I said instead. "I know what I'm doing."

Logan looked at me with raised brows. "I have to rely on _that_? "

Instead of answering I reached into the inside pocket of my suit coat, pulled out another note and thrust it into the hand of that miserable bloodsucker.

"You're the master", he grinned and turned back to the screen.

"What are they researching in those laboratories?" I asked directly.

"Meds… pesticides… oh…" Logan clicked his tongue admiringly. "Genetics…"

"Genetic Research?" I repeated. Hadn't one of the persons the _Legion_ was searching for been a genetic researcher? "Where exactly do they do that kind of work?"

"Actually they've stopped that by now," Logan explained and clicked at a picture of a burned down building.

"_That_ lab had burst into flames?" All my inner alarm bells started ringing instantly. Coraline had been right. Something abnormal was going on within the _Legion_.

"Yeah, and according to what the owner of the company said they didn't go on with the research afterwards. Not lucrative enough."

I shook my head vehemently. "No – they went on with it. Question is, where?"

"Maybe in one of the other labs," Logan suggested. "What about the one with the pesticides … in the _desert_…" He started to laugh, but then suddenly got a very thoughtful expression. "Weird… I've said that before… but to whom?" He pensively cupped his chin in his hand. Then his face lit up. "Mick! That's it!"

My head spun around to him. "What!"

"Yes, of course…" He screwed up his eyes with effort to remember better. "He was here one day, gave me the order to find all laboratories within a certain proximity which had something to do with genetic engineering. Gosh, how could I forget this! We also stumbled over _Henderson & Field_…"

I grabbed Logan's shoulders and turned him forcefully to me. "When did that happen?" I asked excitedly.

"Uh… I… don't know," he stammered guiltily, "… not long before he vanished…"

I released him and took a few steps away from him, for I was feeling the urgent need to shoot him down in flames. Instead of that I raised my hands and tore my hair. "Why did you never mention this ?!" I uttered angrily.

"I… I forgot," Logan stuttered and anxiously watched me walk up and down the other side of the room, not knowing how to rid myself of this anger.

"Mick didn't seem to take this very seriously. He was some what… lost in other thoughts."

Most probably thoughts about Beth to be exact: Beth being in bed with him. At this time Mick had been totally lost in the rapture of love, totally incompetent. No wonder after that long period of starving for it. I had been delighted for him, but hoped that the honeymoon-period would pass off quickly. From experience I knew that Mick in this state of intoxication was never at real optimum. I was sure the _Legion_ had had a walkover with him.

I kicked the dustbin in front of me with full power. It rattled when it hit the cupboard but no more than two rumpled sheets fell out of it.

Logan kept quite calm. On the one hand he probably was afraid of me venting my rage on him, but on the other he was certainly yet summing up what he could charge me for my outburst of fury.

I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. This rage wasn't my usual style. Brace yourself Josef. Brace yourself!

"Okay." I was a bit more controlled. "Did Mick tell you what he wanted to do with that information? Where did he want to go?"

Logan helplessly shrugged his shoulders. "No idea. He had me print the list of the labs and then vanished."

"What kind of case was he working on?"

Logan shrugged again. I rolled my eyes.

"It's just too long ago… oh, wait…" Again he closed his eyes for a moment. "It was something about a missed person. A doctor or so…"

"Are you sure?" I looked at him sternly.

"Yeah… but tell me. Didn't Mick always set up a file for every case he was working on?"

He did. But after his disappearance we had rummaged through all his files and I was positive that I'd never read anything about a missing doctor. Was it possible we had overlooked something? No matter what came out of it, I had a hunch that I needed to return to Mick's apartment. My paranoia told me that I was on to something so hot; we had to take care not to burn our fingers.

"Okay, I'll go now," I explained to Logan, who was slightly confused. "And you'll try to find out everything about those labs and that genetic program you can get and send it to me as soon as possible. Got that?"

Logan just nodded.

"And don't dare to think I'll pay you for that!" I grumbled. "You owe me something!"

With that I disappeared up the stairs.


	5. Eternal Life

_*__ Hi everyone! I'm so thrilled there are still people who read my story and like it that much that they even write reviews. I thank you so much! That's so motivating and I'll do my best to update more regularly. I'll try to do it every weekend, but I can't promise. A lot of thanks to Toria again!! You're a great Beta and I'm so glad you've offered me your help and are still working with that story. Thank you. And now I wish you all much fun with the new chapter, yours Jenna. *_

_Edit: I'm so sorry I forgot to mention you, Moonlightie! Much thanks to you as well for translating this chapter into English! You're a big help too!! Feel hugged and next time I'll thank you right at the beginning - I promise!  
_

* * *

**E****ternal life**

* * *

_**"The most important thing in life are the traces of love we leave behind when we go."**_

_**Albert Schweitzer**_

* * *

_"Because I love you," he had said and she had thrown herself into his arms and kissed him. Although he had responded to her kiss, nothing else had happened between them. It had just been so important to talk with each other, huddled together on her couch, to digest all the fears, apprehension, and dramatic events of the last hours and to forget everything else. For the first time since they had known each other, Mick had let her gain a deep insight into the world in which he lived - the world of the vampires. Not just that, he'd also told her so much about his previous life as a vampire, about things he was ashamed of and mistakes he regretted deeply. Until late at night they had talked and each enjoyed the nearness of the other. At some point she had fallen asleep in his arms and waked again in her bed without him. _

_Of course it had been obvious to her that at some point he had to seek the cold of his freezer. Still, she'd been in the grip of some anxiety, as if the responsibility for changing their deep feelings for each other into a working relationship was lying in her hands. She herself had once called him a delicate flower and that was much more relevant to his feelings than to every other part of his life. Coraline had broken his trust in love several times during the era of their cruel marriage. Beth was fully aware that it would take a lot of her patience and work to rebuild this trust while at the same time proving to Mick that she was able to handle his vampire existence better than he himself. For this reason she had sought Josef's advice and she had been glad about it in the end. She felt strengthened and more courageous than before and knew exactly how she had to act concerning Mick… at least until the moment he was really standing in her doorway, giving her this dazzling, gentle Mick-smile._

_"You… you're too early," she stated confused and was just too aware that beneath her bathrobe she only wore a worn-out nightgown, which constantly slid down one of her shoulders. Oops… speaking of bathrobe… She closed it quickly and tied it so firmly it almost cut off her breath._

_"Well… I…" Mick lowered his gaze sheepishly. "I just happened to be in the area and I thought…" He looked back up and frowned, confused about it himself._

_"You thought…?" she tried to help him._

_He gave off a silent chuckle and Beth felt a small shiver running down her spine. "I don't exactly know," he finally admitted, smiling and embarrassed. _

_"Come… just come in," she said smirking while opening the door a bit wider so he could enter her apartment._

"_Do you want to take off your coat?" she asked after she had closed the door. At the same time she was a little bit annoyed about how things could go farther with them when they both kept acting this formally with each other. Jeez! What was wrong with them? Well, his appearance came as a bit of a surprise, but this really shouldn't take her off her stroke. _

"_Oh … yes," he said, shrugging off his coat with a fluid motion and hanging it onto the coat rack. _

_Beth took the opportunity to examine him quickly and inconspicuously. He was extremely good looking as always. A silky grey shirt, dark jeans – both pieces chosen more to reveal than to hide his athletic body. And that tight butt… Beth felt herself grew warm and cringed when she noticed that he was watching her. _

_"Do you want to have a co…?" She stopped. With this question one probably could sidetrack other men, but it didn't make any sense with Mick. _

_"… Coffee?" he nevertheless carried on her question. "Not right now, but thanks anyway."_

_Embarrassed she tucked a blond wisp of hair behind her ear. "Unfortunately I've run out of blood bottles," she joked, "my other vampire friends just were too greedy at our last orgy."_

_Seemingly surprised Mick raised his eyebrows and nodded understandingly, a small smile on his lips. "No problem, I'm not really hungry."_

_"In case of emergency I can offer something fresh," Beth mentioned airily and lifted her wrist briefly. His gaze rested a few seconds too long on the pulsating vein that was clearly visible beneath her fair skin and when he looked at her again, his eyes seemed to be a bit brighter than before. It was something that fascinated her each time anew. The color of his eyes changed constantly with the angle of incidence of light, the clothes he was wearing or his mood. Under normal conditions they were grey-blue, but they got brighter when the vampire in him was awakening._

_"Actually," he uttered with hesitation, "… there's a reason why I'm here this early."_

_That didn't sound well – rather like his typical withdrawal tactics. "And that would be…?" Beth suspiciously dug deeper and decided to settle down on the couch. Some things were more bearable while sitting. _

"_I think we have to talk about some things," he explained and approached her to sit down on the couch as well. Beth was relieved that he didn't avoid her nearness. It couldn't be that bad. _

"_About what?", she nevertheless asked further._

_Mick tried to avoid meeting here gaze, took a deep breath and looked at her with some concern in his expressive eyes. "Us."_

_Beth nodded in agreement. „Yes. Perhaps we should do that."_

"_I …I've thought about us quite a lot today," Mick continued and she could tell how difficult it was for him to verbalize his thoughts. _

"_About us and everything that has happened between us."_

_Beth felt her heart beating faster in her chest and grave concerns crept up her spine. Please, no… please no drawback. She couldn't bear that again._

"_You should know… no, you have to know that I …" He stopped and his eyes searched pleadingly in hers for a sign that she would understand him without words, that she would just read his thoughts so he wouldn't need to explain anything. But she just looked at him confused and full of fear. Please no… please no …_

_He hesitated and then his eyes widened. "Oh, no!" he exclaimed. "You misunderstand. I don't want to …" Again he couldn't complete his sentence and only exhaled heavily. With a shake of his head he stood up, got away from her and desperately ran his hand over his face. _

"_Okay." He turned to her, closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. "Then I'll just say it directly", he said more to himself than to her. _

"_I…," another deep breath, „… am crazy about you. As soon as I see you, I want to be close to you, Beth, as close as possible – every day, every minute, and every second of this life. Even when I don't see you I want it. I … I can't think about anything else but to sl…" Once again he stopped and shook his head. Beth only glared at him and was lost for words. Suddenly she felt light and released from all burdens. _

"_And that's where the problem lies," Mick said seriously. _

_Now it was Beth's turn to shake her head. "Not for me," she said, determined. _

"_Especially for you," Mick disagreed and looked at her insistently. _

"_No," she countered and finally got off the couch as well. "You see a problem Mick, because you're scared you could bite me in the process." The alarmed flicker of his eyes proved her assumption right. "But that doesn't matter to me,"_ _she emphasized. „You can do it." Now she was so close to him that she could almost feel the horror he felt at this thought._

_He let out a silent desperate laugh. "You don't know what you're talking about."_

"_Sure, I know that," she replied soft but certain. "You have bitten me once. You were starving and yet I didn't have to fear for my life for one second. I trust you."_

_Mick shook his head. „But I don't trust myself."_

"_And what does that mean?" she asked further, meanwhile slightly annoyed. "No sex in our relationship?"_

„_No, I …" He lowered his gaze and nervously ran his fingers through his hair. "We … we just should be careful and… take one step at a time …" He finally glanced back at her and he looked so vulnerable and distressed, that she could barely resist the need to take him into her arms and kiss him. _

"_Beth, I… I just don't want to endanger you. The vampire in me is hard to control in situations like that."_

„_You won't harm me," she emphasized. "And I'm not afraid!"_

"_Yeah – not yet," he responded and sighed resignedly. "That's going to change."_

_Was that the real problem? Did he really think that her feelings for him would change the moment the vampire in him arose and assaulted her? Did he fear that she would leave him because she could bear his vampire side just as little as he did? _

_It was certainly hard for him to comprehend that she was able to accept – and even to love - a side of him he condemned and hated so much._

"_Mick," she said with tenderness and gently took his face in both her hands, so he had to look her in the eyes. "I love you the way you are."_

_Once again he gently shook his head and a strange sad smile appeared on his lips. "The way I am?" he asked softly and somehow there was something lurking in his voice. He freed himself from the soft grip of her hands and turned his back to her, but for a short moment she was sure to have seen something like regret flashing in his eyes. And deep inside her she suddenly knew what was going to happen – yet she wasn't really prepared for it. _

_Everything happened so quickly that her own horrified scream got stuck in her throat. She heard a brutish snarl and then Mick spun around, gripped her shoulders and the face of a monster hurtled towards her, the white-blue eyes fixed on her throat and the sharp fangs exposed. Less than an inch away from her delicate skin he stopped, gasping and taking in her scent. Beth barely dared to breath. Without much thought she had braced her hands against his chest and was now feeling the vampires amazingly fast heartbeat beneath her trembling fingers, felt the extreme tension of his powerful body, unable to prevent that she started to tremble herself. Deep inside her various feelings were raging, while his half opened mouth slowly roamed up her throat and only his intense, constrained breath blew over her tingling skin – but fear wasn't the strongest feeling. No, she was aroused, shaken, electrified and her own heart was pounding wildly in her chest. His face now was close to hers, their lips almost touching and his bright eyes watched her with such a hungry expression, as if he indeed wanted to devour her alive. His breath only came in short gasps and again and again his gaze wandered down her throat to her pulsating carotid. Her eyes glided towards his half opened lips that no longer could hide the tips of his fangs. _

„_The way I am?" he once again whispered to her and it sounded more like the aroused grumble of a heated predator than a human utterance. A hot-cold shiver ran down her spine and was sending a flood of warmth into her belly. She acted purely on instinct but she knew it was the right thing to do. She leaned forward and sealed his mouth with her warm, full lips, fervently kissing the predator whom she loved so much and was yearning for so desperately. Her hands grasped the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer to her to deepen the kiss. He seemed to freeze for a moment, then the pressure of his hands against her shoulders grew stronger and she was forced to release his lips unwillingly to look at him. The vampire had vanished and had left behind an entirely breathless and agitated Mick. Eyes that were so dark with unleashed desire that the pupils were barely visible, now watched hers. Beth knew that she'd won even before Mick drew her forcefully back into his arms, before his lips pressed against hers with a barely suppressed moan, only to steal the last bit of sanity she owned. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled close to his body, readily opened her lips and let in his pushing tongue to meet him longingly with her own. The shiver that captured her body that moment was so intense that even Mick had to feel it. A deep moan rose from his throat and the next moment she felt him slightly bend his knees, wrapping his arms around her hips, pressing her tight against his body. She lost the ground beneath her feet. Despite her added weight he moved effortlessly towards her bedroom._

* * *

"Miss Turner?" Beth winced and almost spilled the coffee on the table in front of her. Once again she had been lost in her memories and had completely forgotten where she was. How embarrassing...

At the table in the café, where she had settled down only half an hour ago, stood a young man and a young woman who looked at her questioningly. Heat shot up her face and she gave both of them an insecure smile before she answered.

"Yes, uh..." she stuttered, "… So you are …"

"Brian Ross," the young man approached her and reached for her hand in a clumsy gesture. Beth shook it, smiling and still fighting with her self-control.

"And this is my fiancée Diana Keppler," he explained. Beth quickly shook the hand of the young women as well. Both had to be around her age, somewhere in the late twenties. Brian was tall and gangly and he seemed to have an open personality but also something boyish, whereas Diana with her polite reluctance created the impression that she had both feet firmly on the ground and knew exactly what she wanted. She was a handsome young woman with huge brown eyes and an alert gaze, with which she now quickly examined Beth.

"Please sit down," Beth invited them kindly and both thankfully settled down on the two chairs at the table. For a moment there was silence between them, but then Brian bravely began to speak.

"So you work together with Mr. St. John?" he asked bluntly. On the phone Beth had posed as Mick's unofficial partner, so there wasn't anything else she could do except to nod. "From time to time. We've solved a few difficult cases." And that wasn't even a lie.

"Why didn't he stay in touch with us? Did anything happen?"

Beth took a deep breath. There was no other way. She had to reveal some of her information to get the information she needed.

"He has been missing without a trace for approximately one year."

"Oh," was Brian's only response.

"For one year?" Diana cut in and sought her fiancée's glance. "Then it happened shortly after we approached him...

"What exactly did you hire him to do for you?" Beth asked.

The two exchanged some glances and then Brian turned back to her. "I think it won't hurt if I tell you. We lost hope long ago. And who knows, maybe in the end you can even help us."

He looked back at his fiancée and after a short moment of hesitation she nodded in agreement. "It was about a professor on the medical faculty of the University of California who vanished a fairly long time ago," Diana explained as she brushed a strand of her auburn hair out of her face. "He created a few interesting research projects in which we assisted."

"He was the best teacher we ever had," Brian welled up fervently. "He … he is … a genius!"

"And he simply disappeared?" Beth asked.

"He did not come to class any more and the projects were stopped," Diana sadly explained. "We were told that he took some downtime, but we were convinced that something was amiss. So we went to the police and submitted a missing person report. He didn't have anyone else. His students were his family."

"And the police didn't discover anything?" Beth inquired astonished.

Both shook their heads. "His house just was abandoned," Brian said. "There was nothing that pointed to a kidnapping or even an assault. A suitcase and a few other things were missing plus his wallet as well. So it was assumed that he just moved abroad."

"A few months later I read an article about this private investigator – Mick St. John," Diana chimed in. "It said, that he's one of the best here in L. A. Therefore we called on him and asked him to find the Professor for us."

"We had no idea that it could be so dangerous for him." Brian looked at Beth apologetically, but she was already entangled in her own considerations.

"You're sure, that Peterson was abducted against his will?" she again asked.

"Yes," Diana said determined. "He never would have let his projects die. They meant too much to him."

That made Beth prick up her ears. "What kind of projects did he work on?"

Once again she witnessed the silent communication between the two persons in front of her. It was clear that this time Diane was the one who wanted to keep on talking whereas Brian hesitated. Then he nodded in agreement.

"Mostly projects within genetic research and biogerontology," Diana explained shortly.

"Bio… what?" Beth asked uncomprehendingly.

"That's a subfield of developmental biology that deals with the cause of the biological aging process and the follow-ups," Brian helped her.

"We've researched the senescence of cells, and hereditary diseases and mutations," Diana continued, "but not the way you do it normally."

"What do you mean?"

"Peterson believed that nature doesn't create things without a reason," Brian said with a small smile. "He believed that mutation should be read as signs, signs nature is giving us as a chance to change, to push evolution. We just need to learn to use the things that are given to us in a positive way to fight against all the diseases and boundaries life set against us. And we should use everything that surrounds us: plants, animals, and humans. With all their genetic codes and cell-mutations, he held the view that one day he'd come across something mankind has searched for since the dawn of history."

Beth looked at them with raised eyebrows. "And this would be?"

Diana smiled lost in thoughts. "The Holy Grail."

"The Elixir of Life," Brian beamed. "Immortality, Miss Turner", he added when Beth still looked baffled.

"Professor Petersen believed that one day, with the help of genetic research, he could free mankind of aging, death and illness; that everything he'd need for it already exists inside this world, in the billions of living organisms. It only needs to be discovered and to be made usable for mankind."

Beth still couldn't speak. But not because she didn't understand what those two were talking about. Quite the contrary, suddenly all the things started to knit together before her inner eye: the Professor's disappearance, Mick's caginess regarding his work shortly before he disappeared as well, her dream … and the dimensions this case suddenly developed caught her breath for a moment.

"Miss Turner?" Brian touched her arm and looked at her, worried. "Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath and cleared her throat. "Yes, I … I'm just thinking..." She needed another moment to collect herself. "If anybody finds a formula to give mankind eternal life without diseases, without aging … this formula would be ..."

"Invaluable," Brian ended her sentence with a nod.

"Everybody would scramble for it," Diana remarked with a disparaging smile.

Beth bent forwards so she wouldn't need to speak loudly, while her heart started a rhythm beating faster and faster. "How far did his research progress?"

"We don't know exactly," Brian admitted silently.

"We weren't able to achieve any progress in the projects, at least nothing we could really call 'progress'. But he also had a small laboratory in his house where he privately did some research."

Diana leaned forward conspiratorially as well. "You know, theoretically there are organisms, even multi-cellular, who could live forever under ideal circumstances, but they are not related to the human organism and research isn't advanced enough to make it usable for us. But Peterson..." She looked around to make sure that they didn't have any audience. "Peterson implied that maybe he'd come across something that could help us to attain our goal."

Beth held her breath involuntary. Was it possible?

"He once gave us a substance. It was unbelievable," Brian added in awe. "Every time human cells came in contact with it, they were able to regenerate ten times faster than before and not only that. It was as if they would learn and try to optimize themselves with each cycle."

"And this substance, what was it?" Beth asked although she had the feeling she could answer this question better than the two persons in front of her.

"No idea," Brian admitted. "He didn't want to tell us … but to us it looked like … blood."

Beth's heart skipped a beat and suddenly she had a huge twist in her stomach.

"Regardless of what it was, Peterson definitely held the view that he would be able to reach his goal in the foreseeable future," Diana added.

"Did he tell anyone except you about it?" Beth asked.

"No," Brian shook his head vehemently. "We are some of his few confidants. But what his research was about and what he was working on tirelessly – everyone knew that."

Beth nodded understandingly. "So you two think, that he was kidnapped by someone who was eager for his research results?"

Diana only nodded.

"Or he's forced to continue his research for said someone," Brian added.

Perhaps they were right with their assumptions. In the end it didn't matter. Beth had all the information she needed. Now she had to act fast. She reached in her bag and under the surprised eyes of the students she came up with her wallet. "I'll figure it out", she promised them and looked them straight in the eyes. "But you mustn't tell anyone else about this!"

Both nodded understandingly. "We hadn't planned to do that," Brian said. "In our academic community there isn't anybody who's interested in this story anymore anyway."

"And that's a good thing," Beth responded forcefully, rose and put some money for the coffee she had on the table. "If you learn anything new – call me! Do you have my number?"

Brian nodded.

"Good." Beth gave him an encouraging smile. "I'll get back to you", she said briefly, gave them another nod and bolted away. As she did so, she dragged her cell phone from her coat pocket and dialed Josef's number.

Her heart was beating frantically in her chest, when she finally heard Josef's voice at the other end of the phone.

"We have to meet!" she interrupted him. "Where are you?"

"In Mick's apartment. Is everything all right?"

She didn't answer his question. "Stay there! I'll be there in ten minutes!"


	6. New Hope

_*__ Hi again! Here's my new chapter. Thanks for your great reviews – I'm so addicted to them and really need that kind of support, because the translation work is sometime a bit arduous. But I'll go on as long as I have people who want to read this. You're great! Feel hugged! Yours, Jenna*_

_P.S. A lots of thanks to Toria for beta-reading this! You're really a big support!_

* * *

**N****ew Hope**

* * *

"_**Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone you may still exist, but you have ceased to live."**_

_**Mark Twain**_

* * *

_Perfect timing was not Mick's thing. It had recently become even more imperfect than usual. Increasingly ill-timed bolts into my office when, and only when, I was having a light snack were quite irritating. Mick never joined me enthusiastically as he used to do only giving me one of those deeply disapproving looks. Today a delicate and quite delicious brunet was sitting in my lap and I was determined to enjoy her despite Mick's unwelcome presence. He planted himself in front of me and raised a brow. _

"_Would you mind finishing your dinner later?" he asked. Slowly but surely he started to annoy me. Nevertheless I noticed immediately that he was somehow different. On the one hand he was more unbuttoned and relaxed as if a small portion of the weight of the world he was always carrying around had dropped off his shoulders, but on the other hand he was strangely energized. Actually that could only amount to one thing…_

_I threw a regretful glance at Madison's… Mandy's… Madeleine's… whosever's lovely face, looked at her lightly fluttering closed lashes, her full, partly opened lips which were letting out a soft moan every now and then and finally drew my fangs out of her forearm._

"_1985 – exquisite year," I referred to Mick with relish, while Mary was slowly coming around, blinking at me confused – until she noticed we weren't alone any longer. She bashfully slipped from my lap and staggered up to the door past Mick but not without eyeing him from top to bottom with overt interest._

"_I don't have to tell you that you just missed out on the chance for a warm meal, do I?" I asked him when Melissa had finally left the office._

_Mick gave me a small smile. "You know, I'm a dead loss," he said pointedly nonchalant and that made me prick up my ears._

"_Yeah," I replied pensively and examined him shortly before I stood up. "But a little snack at midday is highly refreshing." I grinned at my friend while I was strolling to my desk._

"_The question is for whom," Mick returned a bit too calmly and followed me. I watched him flop down into the armchair in front of my desk relaxed but looking at his shoes much too long. _

_A knowing smile spread across my face and I walked around my desk to lean against it directly in front of him._

"_Am I right in thinking that you and Beth have finally ventured the next step?" I grinned smugly. "Are you here because of that?"_

_Mick looked up and knitted his brows questioningly. "Because of what?"_

_Really persuasive, but I'd known him much too long to fall for that._

"_Because of a talk among men," I still helped him. "About sex… and biting… the usual stuff…"_

_Mick sputtered a less persuading laughter. "What makes you think that Beth and I…"_

"_Oh, please, Mick, don't offend my intelligence," I cut him short with a half smile. "In contrast to you _I_ can remember very well what vampires look and behave like when they've experienced a libidinous night. Maybe due to the fact that I experience it very regularly… So, what was it like?" _

_I now gave him a complete smile. He uttered a resigned sigh and rolled his eyes._

"_And? Is she one of the noisy kind?" I raised my brows and got one of Mick's typical admonitory glances. I'd never taken them seriously._

"_Do you really think you'll get an answer?" he replied. _

"_Would you believe that I need that information because I'm working on a paper concerning human women's sexual behavior?" _

_He just raised his brows and I laughed._

"_Honestly – I'm delighted for you," I said seriously. "It was about time."_

"_And I didn't come here to talk about that," he stayed dogged. _

"_No?" I inquired. "That means you can handle it. That you've nibbled a bit at her and haven't buried yourself in a heap of work to avoid another tryst?"_

_Mick looked down, showing me that I was bang on target with my concerns. Those perpetual self-doubts and rigid moral attitudes sometimes drove me up the wall, but they were a part of Mick. They made him complete and therefore I bore them willingly every time – always with a pinch of humor. But today, it seemed to be time to give him peace of mind._

"_It shouldn't have happened," Mick finally responded._

"_The sex or the biting?" I asked bluntly._

_Mick just looked at me and I nodded understandingly. "That goes with it. You couldn't have prevented it, not without training."_

"_Really? And how am I supposed to 'train' it?" Mick returned indignantly and got up._

_I frowned. "Is that a serious question?"_

_Again I just needed one glance to know the answer. "Just do it, Mick! Do it as often as possible!"_

_Mick laughed annoyed as he turned away from me and walked a few steps through my office._

"_What do you want, Mick?" I finally asked and walked over to him. "Shall I tell you you're a dreadful monster and not worthy of her? Shall I scold you?"_

_Again Mick looked at the ground. "I… I lost control, Josef."_

"_Shame on you, shame on you, off into the corner!" I exclaimed. "Can we now skip the part with the self-hate and the remorse and get to the interesting, detailed parts of last night?"_

_Mick stared at me unbelieving and then shook his head. "You really don't understand, do you?"_

_I feigned really thinking about that question. "No, I don't," I admitted calmly and registered a further disappointed headshake. _

"_Let me summarize this," I said. "There is a beautiful, smart woman at your side… no, even in your bed, who's crazy for you and loves you dearly. You had intoxicating sex with her and probably she has already called a few times today, 'cause she wants to repeat this experience," at this I raised my brows questioningly and Mick confirmed my guess by avoiding my eyes, "… and you really shame yourself about the dramatic consequences your love-bite may have?"_

"_It… it isn't about that…" Mick now spoke softly. "I… I just don't want it to happen again."_

"_Why not?" I shrugged my shoulders off-handedly. "She seems to like it after all."_

"_I don't think so," he said seriously. "I think she likes me too much to…"_

"_Oh, Mick, please!" I had to laugh. "Did you really push that all to the back of your mind?" Now I shook my head regretfully. "That happens when someone uses his teeth just for killing…"_

"_I know there are women who love it," Mick said a bit annoyed and this again showed very plainly how young he still was and how much he still had to learn. "But Beth isn't that kind…"_

"_What kind!" I shot back a bit too fiercely as I slowly began to feel riled. "Mick, there's a distinct difference between the bite that kills and the bite of desire and you know that! Even if you like to forget it so often! We own the ability to give our partners through our bite a climax they didn't even know existed. That's a gift not a sin, far less a crime!"_

"_But…"_

"_No buts!" I looked at him sternly and knew he couldn't counter my words. I took a deep breath. "This… this whole drama… just exists in your head. It's not Beth or your relationship that's complicated. It's you!"_

_Mick looked past me but I sensed that my words had somehow engaged him. I put a hand on his shoulder and urged him to look at me again. "Talk with her about it and don't hide yourself from her again," I said softly. "If you do that you'll just destroy your relationship and in doing so yourself. And don't think I'll patch you up again then…"_

_Mick didn't say anything for a while but just looked at me thoughtfully. "Did you sleep with Sarah," he finally asked. _

_The question stung me a bit although I expected it to come up some day. My failed relationship with Sarah had too many parallels to Mick's current love life for it not to linger in his memory. _

"_Yes… and yes I did bite her as well," I said anticipating his next question._

"_Did you regret it?"_

_I shook my head truthfully. "I'd never hurt her, Mick," I said quietly. "I did all I could to make her happy and she _was_ happy… 'til the end."_

_There was silence between us until I coughed loudly and walked back to my desk. "So, you said you're actually here to talk about something else?"_

_Mick had to blink a few times to free himself of his mental entanglements._

"_Yeah," he said as he approached my desk. "I have to admit that the whole thing with Emma and Jackson has bothered me … and then there's this new case…" He stopped to arrange his thoughts. "You once told me that in the course of time it happened again and again that vampires got hunted and killed…"_

_Wow! _That_ was a leap in the topic! And one I didn't like._

"_How did that come about? I mean did one vampire give the others away to save himself – like Emma threatened? Or did the humans discover it themselves?"_

"_Search me!" I said and didn't look at him while doing so. Instead of that I brushed a few imaginary fluffs off my suit. "Why is it so important?"_

_Mick bent down to face me, propped himself on the desk with both his hands and looked me in the eyes inquiringly. "What makes you feel so certain that no one in today's society knows about us when even the people in the Middle Ages with their limited means were able to discover us?"_

_I tried to return his gaze as firmly as possible. I struggled against the unpleasant feeling in the pit of my stomach that always attacked me when I had to lie to Mick. "People were terribly credulous back then, Mick!" I replied firmly. "Today people have lost their belief in almost everything. This is a rational age – everything has to be logical, reasonable, and cogently founded. There is no place for illusions, fairytales and mythical creatures in this society – and there is no better protection for us!"_

"_You think so?" Mick looked at me as if he doubted what I said._

"_I not only think so – I know it!" I said sharply. "Nevertheless we still have to be careful to make sure no one starts to believe in us."_

_Strangely Mick didn't allow himself to be convinced quickly this time as he usually did when it was about topics like this. He straightened himself, crossed his arms on his chest, and watched me with a skeptical expression in his eyes._

"_Let us say scientists did discover us, – what do you think would happen?"_

"_I think they would fillet us, cut us up, and feed their pets with our intestines…" I ruminatively scratched my temple. "Maybe they would even take blood samples from us and experiment with poor, innocent animals. Has there always been a bloodsucking bat?"_

_Mick didn't react to my camouflage but looked at me searchingly. "You know exactly what I mean…"_

"_We've got ways and means to smooth things over," I said seriously. "People have always disappeared without trace from time to time."_

"_Exactly," Mick answered in a weird tone of voice. _

_I tilted my head and looked at my friend frowning. "Is there something we need to talk about?"_

"_Maybe," he responded. "But I think now isn't the right point in time for that."_

"_Is this about your new case?"_

_He shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe…"_

_I furrowed my brows a bit annoyed. "I don't really like that word. The lack of information displeases me as well."_

"_I'm just waiting for a message, then I can explain everything to you."_

_I almost cringed when at that very instant my telephone began to ring. I raised a hand to signal him that he only had to stop for a few seconds. Unfortunately the person at the other end of the line was my accountant and he attacked me with unpleasant news._

"_What do you mean 'we can't record it as a donation'?" I flared up instantly and Mick motioned he would go now. I met him with a mix of head shaking and a nod but he just turned around and left my office._

"_Hold on," I grumbled into the phone, put it aside and hurried after him. Shortly before he reached the elevators I caught up with him. He turned to me with a questioning look on his face and I took a deep breath. _

"_Whatever may haunt your handsome head at the moment, my friend… just forget it for a while and care for you own life before it slips away from you," I said with a gentle smile and caringly began to bring the collar of his jacket in order. "You will do as follows: You'll leave the work undone, drive to Beth and sleep with her again and again until your head is totally free again. Concerning the biting… you won't do it every time, don't fret. But at some point she'll wish for it again. You'll see. Don't make the mistake of burying yourself in work and some flight of fancy just to avoid her. Promise that, okay?"_

_Mick inhaled deeply and finally nodded half-heartedly. I quickly straightened his jacket, patted his cheek and then turned to walk back into my office. One thing was clear as glass to me: I had to call Beth as soon as possible._

* * *

Vampires were able to feel it in their bones when something threatening was looming on the horizon. They knew much earlier than anyone else if it was time for fighting or time for ducking down quickly. I'm more the type who rather ducks down and lets other people do the dirty work. That doesn't mean I'm a coward and cannot fight. I'm more than 400 years old and vampires of advanced age also gain an enormous accretion of strengths.

But let's face it; it would be a tremendous waste of energy if I interfered in every battle when there were so many other people who like to vent their fury in them. I don't need that. I got over that a long time ago. I'd rather save up my strengths for the moment when the employment of all my powers is inevitable. That this would be soon came into sharper relief with every passing day, with every step I came closer to Mick, and with every second I was absorbing the awful news Beth conveyed to me breathlessly, sorrowfully.

She said ten minutes and was here within eight. She had planted herself in front of me and showered me with new information. It awakened memories I'd needed to recall much sooner. I just stood there, blinking every now and then and meeting her urgent gaze with my economical stock smile that always helped me to hide my actual emotional state. My innards stood in stark contrast to that benign smile: wild rage, fear and disgust had evolved into an explosive mixture. The thought that there were people who used vampires as guinea pigs maddened me. If they had gotten hold of Mick… no, I couldn't allow myself to think this way.

"Maybe the _Legion_ didn't kill all those vampires," Beth closed her long speech and my smile faded. "Maybe they…"

"No, Beth!" I snapped at her harshly instantly silencing her. "What the _Legion_ is doing and the things that… that freak does – those are two completely different things!"

"How do you know?" she shot back stubborn as ever. "They could have changed their strategy."

"Because I've seen the remains of several vampires," I returned and breathed deeply. Easy, Josef, relax. Don't forget your part again! "The _Legion_ just killed them."

Beth frowned and I could really see her stubbornness at work. "You've said they divided. Maybe that's the reason. Maybe some of them have started research using vampires without agreement and the others finally found it out and freaked out…"

"Why do you want the _Legion_ to be the ones who've kidnapped that professor?" I asked her and my brows created an angry wrinkle between them, although I was definitely able to make some sense of the logic of her explanations. The same thoughts had also crossed my mind. "It could have been any organization," I added.

"Because they're searching for him!"

"There you are," I said and smiled anew – but this time it was a little bit cynical. "If they'd caught him, they wouldn't be searching for him."

"They are searching for him _and_ their own people!" Her eyes flashed at me heatedly. "Isn't that obvious? Why do you refuse to see that there's a connection?"

I turned my back on her and slumped into Mick's favorite armchair with a deep sigh. "I'm not really doing that," I threw in my hand. "The thing is just that…" I searched desperately for the right words. "I just have the feeling that once again you're starting to think Mick isn't dead."

Her silence confirmed my guess. I shook my head resignedly and then looked at her seriously. "His name was crossed," I said as calmly as possible, underlining every single word. "They always do this when they've killed one of us."

"And if they've just done it because they've assigned him for their re…" her voice tripped over the view of this terrible image, "… research and think he won't survive that?"

"No!" I shouted and got to my feet again. My anger needed to be transformed into action and I couldn't do anything about it. "He's dead, Beth!" I growled and approached her to look firmly in her eyes. "Why can't you grasp that fact?"

"And why don't _you_ want to understand that I have my doubts after all that information, Josef?" she countered just as firmly holding my gaze. "Valid doubts! Josef, we have to find out if the _Legion_ has laboratories or hidden research stations or something similar…!"

Now it was me who couldn't hold her intense stare. I turned away out of fear she could read something in my eyes I didn't want to reveal to her yet. But that's exactly what gave me away.

"Josef?" I could hear her ask suspiciously, while I was trying to stroll back to Mick's armchair pointedly cool.

"Oh, my god…" I heard her indignantly drawing breath and overcame the urge to duck my head just in time. "You… you already know about that!"

"No, no," I said quickly and now turned to her again. "The things you told me were new to me as well… but… " I hesitated. Beth had a razor sharp mind so I had to be careful with the things I was revealing to her.

"But?" she repeated.

"I have it on good authority that one of the more powerful ex-members of the_ Legion_ invests his money into a company which is known to run some shady research projects."

"Where?" Beth blurted. "Where are they?"

"Wait, wait!" I raised my hands soothingly. "Hold your horses…!"

"Hold my…" Beth gave back upset. "This is about Mick!"

"No, it's not!" I responded a bit louder. Why the hell did we always get so emotional when it was about that guy! "It's about much more!" I said although I was reluctant to do so. "We shouldn't jump the gun on anything here – even _if_ Mick's alive..."

"He is!" Beth was close to tears now. "I know it… I just know it…"

I shook my head confused. "Why, Beth? What's changed?"

"Just everything," she said haltingly. Suddenly she looked so vulnerable that the strong urge to take her into my arms and hold her until she felt better hit me with full force. I really wasn't myself anymore since Mick's disappearance.

"… and this dream," she stammered and brushed a single tear from her cheek.

I stumbled and my guts convulsed unpleasantly. "What dream?"

She shook her head. "Forget about it… that's… that's silly." She tried to turn away in shame but I grabbed her shoulders and forced her to look at me. "What dream, Beth?"

Something changed in her gaze. Her mind was working furiously. As much as I usually liked to have women with brains around me – and even more in my bed – at the moment it came more amiss…

"Two days ago when you told me you could better cope with Mick being dead than to live with the image that he's tormented by someone somewhere… There's a reason for that, isn't there?" Her gaze was so intense I had the feeling her eyes would burn themselves into mine. But I couldn't look away…

"I also had a dream," I confessed quietly and winced when she grabbed the collar of my jacket and pulled me closer to her.

"What kind of dream, Josef?" she demanded.

"It was pretty hazy and… just terrible." I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to remember. "I was in some kind of a dark chamber and couldn't move. And people came to me who draw blood from me and inject some burning liquids into my veins… I screamed like an animal and woke up through my own screaming."

She nodded understandingly. "I also dreamt something like that, Josef. I'm sure _I was_ Mick in my dream!"

I looked down shook my head. "Probably they're just dreams."

"We both dream something very similar without talking about it beforehand. That cannot be a coincidence!" She let go of me and ran one hand through her blond curls. An irresistible gesture, for she exposed her neck in doing so and I hadn't had breakfast yet. I absently licked my lips.

"Vampires have superhuman senses… what if Mick is trying to send us a message?"

I reluctantly tore my gaze from her neck. "We can do many things, Beth, but that's a tall order. Especially if he's in as bad a state as in our dreams."

"Was there nothing like that before in the history of vampires?"

"Well, naturally there are some legends and fairytales about vampires," I said with a small smile. "Just think about the silly crucifix- and garlic-stories…"

"Meaning…?" She still waited for a proper answer.

"The first vampires who walked this planet were supposed to have a special 'connection'," I drew foolish double quotes into the air, "to each other, but I've never heard about anything like that in today's vampire community."

"That doesn't mean it's impossible!" Beth's face lit up visibly.

"Don't you think that's quite a stretch?" I looked at her with raised brows. "We shouldn't cling to some illusions just because we're not able to cope with Mick's death."

"No, of course not," Beth responded. "But we also shouldn't stop ourselves from pursuing all contingencies. Finding the addresses of the laboratories is my job, anyway."

I took a deep breath. "I_ know_ where the laboratories are. And you will not make an appearance there!"

"You _know_…?" She stopped short and instantly indignation was in her beautiful eyes. "Why not!"

"I have some guys who'll see to it," I explained calmly well aware that this wasn't the last word concerning this topic.

She crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at me with raised brows. "That means you're not going there personally?"

I made every effort to smile at her but couldn't prevent the sigh that escaped my lips. Why were all my friends such impertinent pigheads? "I didn't say that," I said as calmly as possible.

"Good. Then you have the choice: either you take me along right now or we'll meet there accidently. As you know I have great contacts. Believe me, the information that the company is owned by one of the _Legion_ is enough for me to get the address myself within a few minutes."

She was indeed capable of doing that. How annoying!

Again I inhaled deeply. "You'll stay in the background and do what I tell you to do!" I replied sternly and her eyes lit up while she was nodding. "Stay away from the others and don't do anything we didn't speak about before. I'm not as indulgent as Mick!"

She nodded anew. "And when do we start?"

I took a look at my wristwatch. "In one hour. So you can come with me immediately. My car is downstairs."

"The Lamborghini?" She gave me an appreciative look.

"Don't think I'll let you drive," I answered with a smirk. She just smiled and together we left Mick's flat. Even if everything around us seemed to be peaceful a hollow feeling in my chest told me that the time for ducking was now definitely over.


	7. No 230208

_*__ So much thanks for your reviews!! It's so wonderful to see, you still like my story. And as you can see the next chapter is ready (with the help of my dear Toria *hugs her tightly*). I hope you'll enjoy it! Yours, Jenna*_

* * *

**N****o. 230208**

Crackling. "Totally quiet here… no one here so far…" Crackling. "In the house as well… oh, wait, there's something…"

Beth held her breath and pressed the small button of the headphones a bit deeper into her ear while she pressed a hand at the other ear to partly shield the noise of the helicopter.

"What! What exactly?" she heard Josef yell impatiently into his headset and gave him a worried look. But the eyes of the vampire were fixed on the elongated buildings several meters below them. They were the only buildings here. The rest of the landscape consisted of sand, stones and parched bushes: the desert of Nevada.

When she and Josef left L.A. she knew it wouldn't be an idyllic trip but she'd certainly never reckoned on a flight to Nevada in the company helicopter. Who would have guessed that someone would build a laboratory in the middle of nowhere to do cruel experiments on vampires? She gradually began to feel like a person in one of those very bad horror movies. If someone had told her this story a few years ago she would have instantly taken him to the funny farm herself.

"Max? Do you hear me?" Josef called against the roaring of the helicopter. "Where are you?"

"In the rear part of the main building," a deep voice roared into Beth's ear. It was one of the other four vampires who'd accompanied them. The 'hatchet men', as Josef had called them so nicely, hadn't exactly been enamoured with the idea of taking a human with them – especially when this human was a woman. But since they seem to have great respect for Josef, they hadn't dared to complain aloud, but rather confined themselves to darting disapproving glances at her when Josef was distracted.

"Things look black," she could now hear Max say and her heart did a little jump. "Three corpses. Look like watchmen. But they weren't murdered here. Looks like someone dragged them into this room."

Corpses? Did they come too late?

"No rigor mortis," she heard another voice. "Not so long ago that they've been killed."

With throbbing heart Beth watched Josef take one of those extremely expensive looking pieces of technology he'd loaded into the helicopter with the other men and direct it towards the terrain below them.

"Well, from here the farm looks forlorn," he said loudly. "The thermal image also shows no motion. So I think we just missed them."

"What'll we do now?" Max asked.

"Seek for some entry into the cellar rooms," Josef ordered. "I'm quite sure the laboratory lies under that building. Vampires have no tolerance for desert-heat."

He put the gadget aside, switched off his headset and bent to the pilot.

"Bring us down!" he called and the man nodded his understanding. Beth gripped her seat, a bit frightened when the helicopter began to sink with a jolt.

Josef smiled at her encouragingly but her feeling that he wasn't well at the moment stayed with her. He moved in the helicopter like he used it daily so it had to be something else.

"Maybe you should stay here," Josef called out to her against the noise as the whirly bird touched down. "We don't know what's waiting for us in that cellar! It could get dangerous and as a human you are much more vulnerable."

She nodded with a smile. "I'm coming with you!" she shouted back and Josef shook his head uncomprehendingly. He opened the side door and slid elegantly out of the helicopter. Beth unstrapped herself hastily and climbed out much less deftly. The noise was now earsplitting and the rotors of the helicopter produced such a strong wind, that she was almost afraid of getting blown away. It was Josef's strong arm that gripped her shoulders and pushed her down a bit to lead her out of the range of the rotors. Sand was blown into her eyes and mouth while they rushed ahead. She had to cough a few times until they were finally far enough away to breathe unhampered and talk in a normal manner.

Josef angrily brushed the dust from his expensive clothes, put on his sunglasses again, and shielded his face from the sun with one hand the way Mick used to do.

"Let's hope we're not doing something incredibly stupid," he murmured as they walked to the building.

"Who'd kill the watchmen?" Beth asked worried. "Is it possible they're still here?"

Josef shook his head without looking at her. He was engaged in searching for a trace of shadow on that area. The sun had already begun to sink but it was still very warm – much too warm for vampires…

Nevertheless Beth tried to gain his attention further on. There were so many questions that demanded answers very soon… questions that were frightening her…

"If it was the _Legion_," she started with a bad feeling in her guts, "… and they have spotted the lab…"

"If it had really been the _Legion_ – what I suppose – then I ask myself why all this still exists and they didn't destroy it like they did the other one."

That was indeed a valid question and it caused her stomach to do some twirls.

"We don't know if Mick is here, Beth,_ if_ he's really alive," Josef answered her unspoken question while he hurried onward. "He can be anywhere… All we want to find out is what the freaks are doing here and where Mick is, if they really put their dirty hands on him…"

Beth breathed deeply. "Then we should definitely hurry," she replied and upped her tempo. They headed directly for the main building and didn't spend time looking around anymore. Josef exhaled, relieved when they opened the doors of the building and stepped into the dark, cool room behind it.

"Much better," he murmured and took off his sunglasses. The room they entered was barely furnished. There was an old, dusty sofa in one corner that was probably just used by vermin, a table and two chairs. In another corner was a kitchenette with a sink, a stove and a few cupboards. The dirty cups and dishes in the sink and the coffee machine with its still half filled coffee pot in it showed that it had been used. Anyway the room hadn't been cleaned for a long period of time. The corners were cobwebbed and a thick layer of dust covered the regions of the floor one didn't need to cross. The watchmen probably just used the room for their breaks.

"Comfy," Beth said quietly and looked at Josef whose expression wavered between abyssal disgust and disbelief.

"If somebody had really lived in here I'd eat a werewolf," he grumbled and pressed the button of his headset to reactivate it. Beth's receiver connected as well.

"Where are you?" Josef asked while he was walking into the flanking corridor, avoiding a low dangling cobweb.

Crackling, then a short hissing. "We… found… the… into…" were the only shreds of words which could get through the static noises. "… Right… is… lab…"

"What!" Josef stopped walking. "I don't understand you! Where are you? Where is the entrance to the cellar?"

Hissing.

"Max?"

No answer. Josef heaved a sigh. "Technology," he said shaking his head and closing his eyes to concentrate better on his vampire senses. He sucked the air around them into his nose, paused for a moment and then smiled at Beth.

"There's nothing better than the smell of fresh blood," he said and moved on again.

Beth's heart was beating faster when they came close to a further dark room. From afar she could see several bodies lying on the floor. Most likely the watchmen Max had talked about.

Josef's gaze just grazed the men while Beth noticed an oppressive feeling in her stomach. Someone had shot them in the head. One had lost one half of his face.

The vampire headed straight into the wall in front of them and only when she was following him on wobbly legs did Beth discover there was a passage that was usually locked with a heavy steel door. Now it was opened. The control box was broken open with brute force and the cables dangled out of it like the intestines of a dead animal.

Josef didn't hesitate any longer and rushed on through the straight, concreted corridor, which finally ended in front of an elevator.

"And now?" Beth asked breathlessly.

Josef shrugged his shoulders. "Now we're again placing ourselves into the hands of technology," he said with a sinister voice and pushed the button. The elevator was quick and quiet and looked, when the doors opened, more like the cabin of a spaceship.

"Not bad," Josef noted when they entered and Beth nodded agreeing, fighting back the discomfort and the fear, which was becoming more and more intense. She was afraid of the things she might see down there in the cellar while at the same time the urge to finally get into this laboratory grew. She was terribly nervous and sensed that Josef was like her – only outwardly he was amazingly relaxed.

"Oops!" Beth exclaimed, startled when the elevator moved down with a flounce. She pressed a hand at her stomach to keep the feeling of unease under control.

Josef gave her an encouraging smile. His eyes left hers quickly but strangely roamed to her neck. She frowned but couldn't say anything for the elevator stopped with a start. The doors opened almost soundlessly and revealed a long flagged hall, which was brightly lighted by neon lights at the ceiling. It was cold and sterile… like the one in her dream.

A shudder ran through Beth's body and she was sure her pulse rate was unhealthy.

"That's it!" She was agitated and anxious; the urge to lunge forward and to shout for Mick out loud was so strong she just had to give in to it….

But there were Josef's hands firmly gripping her shoulders and pulling her close to him. His eyes bored into hers. "You won't freak out now, Beth!" he demanded emphatically. "This kind of laboratory exists everywhere! And dreams are not reliable sources!"

"I know… I know," she stated grudgingly, more in control. "But he could be here, Josef!"

"And then we'll find him," he promised. "All we need is a bit of time and patience!"

She knew he was right but her need to prove to herself that Mick wasn't dead, her longing to find him and finally pull him into her arms again, was so strong, that it pushed every clear thought to the back of her mind.

"Breathe!" Josef said urgently. He had bent down to her a bit and now was at eye level with her. She let out the breath she had unknowingly held and closed her eyes for a moment.

'Brace yourself, Turner! In this state you're no help!' she said to herself and breathed deeply a few times more. When she opened her eyes again her pulse had slowed down a bit.

"That's good," Josef said satisfied and dared to let her go again. "We will now seek the others and then we'll take it from there. There's no sense in running around and opening all the doors. Maybe there's an office with files somewhere …"

He activated his headset again.

"Max?"

Again a crackling, then suddenly the connection was back.

"Yeah. We've found the lab and…"

"I know. We're down as well. Where are you?"

"Wait…"

A door opened at the other end of the corridor. A dark, heavily armed shape appeared and waved its hand.

Josef and Beth got going at the same time and rushed to him.

"What do you have?" Josef instantly asked the athletic, clear-cut man in front of him.

"Most of the rooms are empty," the vampire reported after giving Beth a long, distinctly disapproving look. "Phillip and Connor are still exploring everything else but at the moment it looks as if there's not a soul about."

"No vampires either?" Josef asked surprised.

Max took another long gaze at Beth and then looked at Josef with an oddly questioning expression in his eyes.

"She can stand it," Josef gave back and Max nodded his understanding.

"There are two dead bodies in one of the other rooms," he continued and Beth's stomach turned. "But no one who fits the description you gave me. They've been dead for several days and – let's put it like this - examined very closely."

Beth knew what he meant. For a while dead test subjects also had a certain value for the research.

"Doesn't look good," Max, added harshly. "Hope we'll have the chance to let the bastards pay for that very soon…"

Josef's cheek muscles twitched suspiciously when he agreed with a nod of his head.

"Anything else?" he muttered through tense lips.

Max shook his head. "I think the people who worked here were cognizant that their 'friends' would soon appear and said goodbye to their little project as quickly as possible. They didn't have much time – and had to leave most things behind"

He pointed with a slight motion of his head to the room behind him and took a step aside to let Josef and Beth enter it.

"I would assume that this was their office," he explained while Josef and Beth were scanning the room. Besides Josef, Beth, and Max another vampire was in the room, which was equipped with three desks, several computers and file cabinets. The other vampire had pulled open some drawers and was removing one file after the other. Josef instantly approached him and relieved him of a file. He opened it immediately. Beth walked to him and skimmed through the lines of the first sheet with throbbing heart.

It looked like a patient chart, cluttered with medical terms and notes. Ahead in the margin was no name, just a number. Josef impatiently turned the pages over. X-rays and diverse body scans followed… further notes – unreadable for laypersons. No statements about the person, no photos of a face – as if in fact they had been just animals, test objects, with whom the working staff shouldn't bond in a personal way.

Josef dropped the file onto the desk and took the next, browsed through it angrily and looked at the other vampire ungraciously, as if it were _his_ fault that they had no use for that kind of information.

"Do they all look like that?" he asked and ripped one of the files out of the man's hands, just to meet with disappointment again.

The vampire nodded. "Yeah. Just numbers, no names. They were careful."

Beth grabbed the first file again and looked at the number a bit more closely. She took another one and compared it with the first.

"How many are there?" she heard Josef ask, while her mind functioned at top speed. There was something…

"Not too many. Twenty, I guess. But they didn't survive a long time. In all the files I've had my hands on the dates of death are noted. By the way, the other cabinets are empty. They didn't do it on a grand scale."

'Do not listen! You don't want to hear that!' Beth said to herself and grabbed the next file. The digits at the end…

"Pack it all in," Josef ordered. "We have to go through it with a fine tooth comb. And we need medical experts."

Beth's eyes widened. How could she have been so blind? "Wait… wait, Josef!" she called and stopped the two of them from stuffing all files into one of the big, dark bags they'd brought along.

"It's a date! They just numbered them with the date of the day they'd caught them!"

For a short moment Josef seemed to be paralyzed, then he grabbed one pile of the files and slapped it onto the table.

"Help me! Go!" he called out over his shoulder to the other vampires and began to rummage through the pile with tremendous speed.

"We're searching the 23rd February 2008!" he explained. "Number 230208."

Beth's heartbeat was again beyond any normality, while she was quickly opening files and throwing them aside like some kind of a robot. 'We'll find you… we'll find you…' it hammered in her head. 'Hang in there… we just need a sign… a hint…"

A cracking in her ear reminded her that there where still other men who were examining the rest of the laboratory.

"Guys come here, you must see this!" she heard a brighter voice say. "This room is full of things they took from the vampires…"

Beth looked up, gazing at Josef. She knew they were thinking the same thing.

"Phil, where are you?" a harried Josef asked.

"A little way up the corridor and then right hand! It's some kind of a chamber…"

Josef nodded to her and Beth dropped her file, flung around and rushed ahead. Her feet almost flew over the flagged floor while her stomach did one twirl after another. Breathless she stopped at an open door and slipped into the room past the tall, dark-haired vampire who was standing in the doorframe, looking at her with confusion. There were several shelves against the walls loaded with smaller and bigger opened boxes.

"Are the others coming as well?" she heard Phillip ask a bit angrily but she wasn't able to respond to him. Beth's eyes sought for something familiar in all these boxes, something that proved Mick had been here. Finally her eyes struck a small basket filled with jewellery and other valuables. It was difficult for her to breathe as she reached out her hand for something that was appallingly familiar to her. A silvery-looking, ancient ring…

It was his; she knew it before her fingers had closed around it. It was Mick's ring, the one he wore constantly. For a moment she looked at it, shaken, then the realization that she had been right, that her dream hadn't been just a dream and Mick went through hell for a year hit her with such tremendous force that she wasn't able to breathe for a few seconds. Beth took a step forward to hold on to the shelf.

The line was cracking again. "Guys, it doesn't look good here," another voice reported. "I think I'm in some kind of control centre… and that directly in front of me… it looks like a countdown…"

Beth didn't listen. Her gaze had caught something else and she more felt than walked her way along the shelf to the bigger baskets that were filled with clothes. She took a last wavering step and reached out for a dark coat, which was lying on top of one of the baskets. It was heavy and long, made of expensive fabric, and she knew to whom it belonged. Her gaze often caressed it, when Mick appeared in it. That coat underlined his dark, seductive side, made him even more attractive and alluring and quickened her heartbeat each time. But this time it blurred her vision as her eyes filled with hot tears. She pressed the coat to her chest, tried to breathe steady, and tried to gain control of the emotional turmoil within her.

Crackling. Hissing. "If I'm not mistaken, we have twenty minutes left…"

Quick steps echoed through the hall. When Beth turned around, Josef appeared in the doorframe. His eyes roamed hastily over all the things on the shelves and stopped at Beth's face. He looked harried, but also broken… almost as broken as she suddenly felt.

"He's here," she uttered with a shaky voice and reached out the coat to him. "Josef, those are _his_ things…"

"I know." His voice was strangely grave and husky. "But we have to go."

"No!" she shouted in panic. "We must search for him! He's here, Josef!"

She noticed with horror that he was shaking his head. "Not anymore," he replied with much difficulty. He pressed his lips together as if he had to fight against his own turmoil and raised his hand. His fingers firmly clutched one of the files.

Beth's quick wit and the gaze Josef gave her told her everything – things she refused to believe. She just couldn't cope with it… not now… not when she had just recovered her hope… when they were so close to Mick…

The coat slipped out of her paralyzed fingers. She couldn't hold her tears anymore. "Where… where did they take him?" she asked, although she was sure this was the wrong question.

Josef approached her. His gaze roamed the ground and when he looked at her again his eyes were full of tears as well. "He… he was pronounced dead two days ago…"

She shook her head… again and again. "No that's just paper, like this list, just paper."

"Beth!" He grabbed her face with one hand and held her, forced her to look into the horrible face of truth. "This is a death certificate with the official signature of a doctor. They burned his body. We won't find something here! He's dead!"

"No!" she screamed and freed herself from his grip by force. "That's not true! It's… it's not true!" A helpless sob was torn from her throat. "I'll… find him…"

And with that she rushed forward, pushed Josef out of her way with her shoulder and stumbled into the hall. She had no time to think about which direction she had to go. She intuitively hurried up the cold, threatening looking corridor towards another door… a door with a milky glass panel at the other end of the hall… Mick had been here… within her reach… so close…

Naturally she had no chance against the vampires' rapidity and strength. Josef was at her side in a split second. He pulled her around and shook her.

"Come to your senses!" he snapped at her and his eyes were now white-blue with rage and emotion. "You'll kill us all!"

"Let go of me!" she screamed at him and tried to free herself again. "I won't leave him here!" She noticed how crazy she sounded. "I'll find him… I'll find him…!"

Josef didn't respond to her, instead he grabbed her more firmly picking her up in a fireman's lift.

Beth didn't get out anything but deep, helpless sobs, while Josef moved them both through the corridors with breath-taking speed. The others joined them quickly, laden with heavy bags, but Beth didn't care. She felt so empty and numb, for with every step Josef took, the realization that she had lost Mick forever sank in deeper and pitilessly killed the small flame of hope that had carried her through the last days…


	8. Memories

_*__ Hi again! I'm so sorry it took me so long to post a new chapter but first I got ill and now my beta reader is. So I have to warn you: This chapter is still not reworked by an English speaking beta reader. There may be many mistakes in it, but I just didn't want to let my readers wait any longer. I'm so happy that I've found a few readers who like what I write and don't want to lose them with a long wait. **This chapter is rated **_**_M_**_**.** The following chapters will contain violence and this one… You'll see… *smirks* A lot of thanks to Liana 555, moonjat54, Sam Brody and Yankeehater! It's so great to get some feedback here. It always raises my spirits and pushes my motivation to go on with the translation. Feel hugged! And now enough of talking! Have fun reading! (Hope so) Yours, Jenna*_

_Edit: I put up the edited version of this chapter now. Thanks to redwinter for her beta-reading!  
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**Memories**

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"_The memory is the only paradise we cannot be expelled from."_

_(Jean Paul, *1763)_

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Beth had loved Josh, she was sure about that – in a very rational, warm way and his death had been a tragedy for her. Not only because she had lost such a good friend but also because there hadn't been enough time to explain everything to him and to apologize. Instead she had let him go with a lie, with the belief that he had been the one she had wanted to grow old with. It had probably been better for him that way but it had increased her own pain, her guilt and her doubts for a while. Admittedly she hadn't really cheated on him but for the most part her heart had always belonged to someone else – to her savior, her guardian angel, who had watched over her for her whole life and had given her the unbelievable feeling of complete safety, no matter which direction she had taken – the love of her life. After all she had been able to become the self-confident young woman she was today just because of him. It could all have been totally different without him.

And now he was gone, forever gone, leaving her alone after all these years, ripping her heart into pieces and taking a part of her soul with him. The pain of her loss was so strong that she didn't have the strength to bear it. It was better to feel nothing, to let her body be carried away by the emptiness that had taken her over in those fateful minutes in the Nevada desert.

Nothing had been able to shake her since then, not even the buildings exploding below them as the helicopter took off just in time, or the flames that shot out of the ground like the arms of a demon wanting to pull them down into hell. She had watched all of it without showing the slightest sign of emotion on her face. She had noticed Josef's worried looks and when he had asked her to come home with him to sleep there overnight it had been clear to her that his concern was mostly about her mental and emotional state. But the thought of not being alone this night felt good. She felt so strangely empty inside she would certainly not be able to bear the loneliness and emptiness of her apartment.

Josef's house was situated in Beverly Hills on one of those pale hills, which afforded a remarkable view of the sparkling lights of the city, and it was huge – two floors high, very wide and built in an ultramodern style, fronted by huge windows. A multitude of plants blocked the direct view into the house and prevented too much light and warmth getting through.

Beth was impressed with Josef's palace. The living area looked more like a grand hall than a room, modern architecture contrasting with the jungle-like atmosphere created by the exotic plants and artificial streams that watered the garden and continued on, weaving their way into the house. Beth never had been a fan of modern design but this really had class.

"Make yourself at home," she heard Josef say behind her, as the door closed soundlessly. "Do you want a coffee?" he asked as he passed her and headed for the kitchen area. "Or tea?" He let one of the heavy bags he had carried fall onto a couch as he walked by, casting a questioning look over his shoulder.

"Uh… tea would be nice," she replied a bit distracted. She was surveying the ivy twined across a whole wall and now dipped in the red light of the setting sun. Was it real?

"_Green Jade_ or _Silver Needle_?" Josef wanted to know, putting the water onto boil and fetching a tea strainer.

"You've got _Silver Needle_?" Beth replied, surprised. This white tea was one of the most expensive in the world. Very tasty but pure luxury.

"I could also offer you a simple, green one," Josef said with a charming smile and took a scoop from his cupboard. "_Rock Snail_?"

"I thought vampires couldn't taste anything," Beth responded, confused, unable to understand why her friend had such exquisite types of tea in his collection.

"That's right," Josef agreed and started to fill the strainer with the most expensive sort. "But I often have lady visitors… For my guests, only the best!"

Beth shook her head smiling halfheartedly and let her gaze roam through the living area again, across the window that led to the terrace. She stopped, open-mouthed.

"You have a pool?!"

Josef gave her a confused look. "Imagine I'm not the only one here in Beverly Hills."

"No, I mean… why didn't I know that?" When the summers got very hot this was indeed useful information.

Josef shrugged his shoulders, a smirk on his lips, "Because you would instantly have fallen deeply in love with me and not with…" He broke off, looked down and turned to go on with his work. It seemed as if he, too, wanted to avoid the subject of Mick.

Beth took a deep breath and sat down on the red and white designer sofa next to her. The sight of the sinking sun was really beautiful, but although she was usually entranced by such things, this time it left her cold. The cool, blunt calmness inside was almost beginning to scare her, but she was powerless against it.

"Tea for the lady," she heard Josef's voice very close to her and when she turned, she was looking at a steaming cup of tea, shimmering like silver. She managed a grateful smile and took the cup from her friend's hand.

"Thanks," she murmured softly and eyed him. He was still very pale and the circles under his eyes couldn't be overlooked any more. "And what about you?" she asked.

Josef's smile was more tired than convincing. "I don't think there's time for a warm drink."

"How long since your last meal?" she was worried, guessing this was the reason for his sickly pallor.

Josef scratched his temple thoughtfully and looked at the ceiling for a moment. "I think yesterday between 2.00 and 3.00 a.m. a certain Danielle was of great help to me…"

Beth's eyes widened. "That long ago?!"

"There were so many things to do," Josef replied calmly. "Sometimes there are more important things in this world than attaching oneself to the neck of a beautiful woman…" He stopped short. "Did I really just say that?"

Beth didn't react to his attempt to cheer her up. Instead her eyes caught her wrist and without thought or hesitation she lifted her arm and reached it out to Josef. "Take what you need."

For the first time since she had met Josef he looked shocked and didn't know how to react to her offer. For one, single heartbeat the vampire within him let his lightening eyes roam greedily over the pulsating artery beneath her soft skin – then the greed in his gaze changed to indignation.

"I… I would never do that!" he forced out, unable to prevent a sweep of his tongue over his lips.

"Why not?" she asked, seemingly uncaring of what Josef might do to her here on his home territory. "You need it and I have it. I wouldn't have thought you would have a problem with that."

Josef let out an angry laugh and then shook his head. "You're not one of my freshies, Beth," he said emphatically. "And you never will be."

"But we're friends…"

"Exactly!" Josef angrily turned away from her and went back to the kitchen. He was shaking his head again and again and Beth couldn't escape the feeling she had insulted him with her offer. It seemed as if Josef Kostan did have his principles.

She put her cup of tea onto the table, stood up and walked over to him as he filled an elegant glass with stored blood, refusing to look at her.

"Okay, I'm sorry," she said hesitantly. "But I don't really understand. I know you wouldn't hurt me and you're too practised to kill me accidentally."

Josef took a few deep gulps of blood and for a moment closed his eyes in relief. When he looked at Beth again, he seemed appeased.

"That's not the point," he explained more calmly. "I'm not the type of vampire who bites into the neck of every human or at least every _woman_, who crosses my path, even if I sometimes convey that impression. Friendship and the satisfaction of my needs don't mix. Cases of emergency constitute an exception – but this," he raised his glass, "is not a real case of emergency."

Beth nodded understandingly and Josef gave her a faint smile.

"But it seems someone has acquired a liking for our canines," he added in a husky voice.

"Oh, oh, no!" Beth replied, a bit startled and she felt her cheeks flush. "I… I just wanted to somehow… do something to help you. As a friend," she stuttered, but Josef's grin just broadened.

She tried to look annoyed but then she had to smirk, a little embarrassed. "Okay, I admit the whole thing does have a certain appeal. And I would never have thought that before. I'm really not a fan of pain."

"Vampire bites can definitely be painful," Josef admitted off-handedly. "But when combined with lust and passion pain is rare."

"Why?" Beth asked, confused, although she had experienced it herself.

"Because all bloodsucking creatures have to make sure their… victims cannot feel the bite. It's the only way we're able to get our food in peace."

"So there's some secretion in the saliva that deadens the skin?" Beth concluded.

"Not just that," Josef responded. "There are many substances vampires release into the human body in different strengths while biting, as well as a multitude of endorphins and alkaloids."

"Wait a second. Aren't they substances you'd find in plants?" Beth asked, "Like hops and tobacco?"

"They've also been detected in animals, and after all, we are still mammals, of a kind."

"Exactly what kind of effect do these vampire alkaloids have?" Beth dug deeper.

Josef smiled again and raised a brow.

"Oh!" It began to dawn on her what he meant.

"Compared with us, aphrodisiacs are feeble," the vampire explained. "And the more aroused a vampire is the more intense the effect of his bite."

That explained the intense experience with… Beth swallowed with difficulty. Why did all her thoughts always trace back to _him_? She didn't want to think about him, couldn't stand it.

"Of course everything also depends on how much trust the human has in the vampire. Even the mind-altering substances of a vampire aren't able to cope with fear and tension, but apart from that…" Josef took another mouthful of the blood, but his eyes remained on her face.

She knew for sure he would instantly feel the change of emotions within her, but she couldn't fight it. Painful memories surged from below and bit by bit chased away the emptiness inside her. She crossed her arms in front of her chest as if by doing so she could stop the grief from spreading and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened her eyes again, Josef's gaze had changed as well. Deep sympathy filled his soft, brown eyes and he gave her a sad smile.

"I've got something for you," he said softly and walked over to the couch where the dark bag he had brought along was still lying. Beth followed with a strange feeling in her stomach. Her friend drew a deep breath, reached into the bag and in a gesture that was almost tender, pulled a coat out of it – Mick's coat.

Beth wasn't able to breathe for a moment. She tried to, then tried to speak, but she couldn't. Her eyes began to burn and her throat constricted.

"I told Phillip to take everything he could fit into the bags," Josef explained, his voice hoarse as he approached her and gently put the coat around her shoulders. After all this time she could still smell Mick in the fabric and the pain raged inside her, turning her legs to jelly and the first, hot tears ran down her cheeks.

"That's yours, I think," Josef whispered. "And this as well." He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, grasped her shaking hand and slipped something cool into it. Beth's field of vision was totally blurred, but she knew what it was and that alone was enough to rip away the last bit of her self control. She pressed the filigree necklace to her heart, the necklace Mick had worn so often, and began to cry uncontrollably. Two strong arms reached out for her and pulled her close to a cool body. She wrapped her arms around Josef's waist and buried her head to his chest, while she cried and cried, unable to stop. She needed to let it out before it ate her up inside. She had to get it out of her body if she was to regain her strength, to live, to go on fighting.

"You'll make it," she heard Josef whisper into her ear. "You'll get through it all. At some point the pain will become more bearable."

She hoped so, hoped desperately, because the terrible ache made her feel so helpless and weak.

Josef held her in his arms, caressed her back and rocked her back and forth until her sobs got softer and her tears began to run dry. After what like an eternity she lifted her head and looked at Josef's reddened eyes, full of grief. His face was so close, that she could feel his breath on her lips. But the intimacy didn't scare her. It felt so good, so damn good.

"I… I'm sorry," she finally got out in a halting whisper. "I'm… such a wimp…"

"You're not," he responded, his voice raw with emotion. "You're the bravest and most courageous woman I've ever met." There wasn't even a trace of mockery in his voice. "And I think… no, I _know_, you'll get through it, no matter how grievous this loss is for you."

She nodded, sniffing, and freed herself reluctantly from his embrace. "I… I've got something for you as well," she said softly and reached into her pocket. "I think it should be yours."

She stretched out her hand to reveal Mick's ring. She had held it in her hand the whole time they had been in the laboratory and only once they were safe in the helicopter had she let it slip into her pocket, unable to bear the sight of it any longer.

There were tears shimmering in Josef's eyes now, which he visibly tried to hold back, his lips clenched tightly. Hesitantly he reached out one hand to take the ring and finally seized it with a slight nod. For a while he just looked at the ring, clearly battling his rage, then he clenched his fist and squared his shoulders.

"I'll catch them. All of them," he forced out huskily, the anger in his eyes pushing back his grief. "Those bastards will wish they were never born."

"Do you really think we'll be able to be faster than the _Legion_?" Beth asked. "So far they've always beaten us to the punch."

"That'll change," Josef said firmly. "I've put so many people on the trail of those fugitives that they won't escape us. And I've got connections all over the world. I'll get them sooner or later and then they'll beg for mercy."

Beth didn't really know if she should be scared or should support him. Josef's eyes sparkled with such hate that she was sure his revenge for Mick would be more than bloody; it would be bestial.

"We… we should take care that we don't expect too much of ourselves," she argued. "We need to conserve our strength, to make sure we can go the distance." Her conviction grew as she spoke. Her limbs slowly got heavier and heavier and her head was pounding. The efforts of the last few hours were taking their toll.

Josef's look changed, becoming warmer and softer. "Are you trying to point out to me that you need some sleep?" he asked with a half-smile.

"Yes," she admitted honestly and returned his smile. "I'm dead tired." Her gaze roamed to the couch. As expensive as it might be, it didn't look very comfortable.

"You want to sleep on that?" Josef had followed her gaze and now looked at her with a frown.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Definitely," her friend said and passed her heading for the staircase which led to the upper floor of the house. Beth followed.

"You can choose between the guestroom and my official bedroom," Josef explained as they walked up the stairs together.

"You've got a bedroom?" Beth asked in disbelief. "Why?"

"Because there are frequently humans around me who don't know my preference for beautiful women's necks and all the other associated... requirements," Josef explained and led her through a small corridor, stopping in front of one of the many doors along the hallway.

"Guestroom," he said and opened the door to a stylish room, furnished with a beautiful, four-poster bed.

"That's more than adequate," she replied, already yearning for the comfort of the soft pillows lying on the bed.

"Well, then perhaps I'll save the presidential suite for another occasion," Josef said, contented, unable to bite back a wolfish smile in spite of the day's stress. Beth was thankful for that. Somehow it gave her the feeling that a bit of normality was coming back into her life.

For a moment there was awkward silence between them then Josef cleared his throat.

"If you need anything else, you'll find me in my office downstairs," he explained. "I'll jump into the freezer for an hour or two but this isn't my usual time for sleep."

She nodded and pulled Mick's coat closer around her. "Thanks," she said and looked at him tenderly. "For everything…"

Josef's smile was as warm as hers and for a while they just looked at each other, thankful for having one other in these hard times. Then her friend turned and left the room. Beth quietly closed the door behind him and walked to the bed, sinking down on it heavily. Josef was still close but she instantly felt lonely and sadder than before. But she wouldn't call for him like a little girl and beg him to watch over her until she fell asleep. She could be strong. She had to try. So she crawled over to the head of the bed, slipped under the soft covers and curled up like a baby. In one hand she still held the necklace Josef had given to her and the memories descended over her mercilessly. She saw _him_, his face with those gracious eyes, his gentle smile, could hear his warm, deep voice in her ears, the laughter she had heard far too rarely and her tears began to flow again. But she didn't break down. Not this time. Instead she pulled his coat closer around her, breathing in his smell as she closed her eyes. This time she _wanted_ to remember, wanted to be close to him, at least in her thoughts, wanted never to forget the wonderful ways he had enriched her life. Although they hurt, they were good memories, so precious, so beautiful, because they were so full of love.

* * *

_Mick… his smell, his cool lips, his body pressed tight against her own. Beth had never felt anything like it. She had never been so excited, so impatient. She had never yearned so much for someone, never kissed a man so greedily and shown so clearly what she wanted. Even as Mick carried her to the bedroom her hands slid under his shirt, moving from his neck down to his shoulders as she hungrily answered his deep kisses and enjoyed every soft moan of longing the touch of her fingers drew. His skin was soft and strangely cool and it felt amazing beneath her fingers; she couldn't get enough of it. She had ached for so long to touch him like that, so long._

_Mick stopped in front of the bed and set her back on her feet. She slid her hands across his shoulders into the neck of his shirt and began to open the buttons. Her breath caught for a moment as his lips pressed to her neck but instead of sharp fangs his tongue touched the soft skin, a slow, unbearable slide down her neck. He swept her robe open and slipped it off her shoulders. Haste caused her to fumble with the buttons of his shirt. Her fingers shook with excitement and she closed her eyes as Mick's lips and tongue touched her sweet, sensitive skin over and over. She felt the swelling pull between her thighs. They weren't even naked but her whole body was ready to take him, to feel him inside of her, to love him._

_Her impatience was growing and she tried to tear off his shirt, but it was Mick's hands that finally put an end to her struggle with a loud rip, scattering buttons to the floor. Beth gasped, gripped his shirt and pushed it from his broad shoulders to let it fall, her eyes memorizing every inch of his beautiful body. She reached out to let her hands run down his bare chest but Mick pulled her close with a growl of impatience, so tight to his body, that she could barely breathe. His mouth found her lips again, smothering the moan building in her throat, his hands roaming down to her thighs and beneath her nightgown. Up, moving, searching, across her tingling skin to her breasts, as Beth savored every single second of his intense touch. Her heart pounded. His mouth was back at her throat once more, sucking at her heated skin, while his thumbs skimmed over her taut nipples. She had to bite her lip to suppress the loud moan that fought for release from her depths. Her hands gripped his muscular back as her legs buckled._

"_Mick," she whispered, her voice filled with longing and she pressed her lips greedily to his neck. She gasped as her nightgown succumbed to his impatient hands, tearing, slipping down her shoulders to the floor. There was no time for awkwardness as Mick's arms braced around her and hugged her close. Bare skin to bare skin, heartbeat to heartbeat. His rapid breath at her ear. His hands at her back. His lips at her neck. More… more… please…_

_She sank down, pulling him over her onto the bed, locked in a heated kiss, hearing the soft thud of his shoes falling to the floor. She moaned into his mouth as his body pushed her down, his erection pressing against her, warm, waiting._

_She opened herself further, wrapping her legs around his hips and rubbing herself against him. Mick inhaled with a hiss and averted his face. _

"_Beth… don't…," he ground out. But she lifted her hips again, moved against the hard bulge in his jeans while her lips caressed his neck. A deep, animal moan escaped and his hot breath grazed her ear. _

"_Beth…" There was helplessness in his voice, but also so much lust. She couldn't stop. She wanted it. She had been forced to wait far too long…_

"_Do it… do it!" she panted impatiently as her hands slid down his body into the waistband of his jeans. He gripped her wrists and pulled them up, pressing them into the pillows above her head. His face was directly in front of her, his rapid breath blowing across her lips, her heated cheeks. His eyes were closed and his cheek muscles twitched with tension. When he opened his eyes again, she saw__ h__is irises had changed color, turning an almost-white blue – the vampire wanted to play and Mick didn't want to allow it. Beth realized Josef had underestimated Mick's strength. His self control was unbelievable; she could see his eyes getting darker again with every passing second. He was doing it for her, torturing himself just to keep her safe. She couldn't stop lifting her head and pressing her mouth tenderly to his soft, slightly-parted lips._

"_I love you," she whispered against his mouth and kissed him again, "I love you," again, "love you so much," and again. His grasp around her wrists loosened and Mick began to respond to her kisses, first tenderly and softly, but becoming more demanding. His tongue pushed into her mouth, resuming their fire-play. This time he didn't linger at her mouth, moving to nuzzle her neck, on, down._

_Beth moaned as his lips closed around one of her nipples, sucking gently. She threw her head back and arched to meet him, her breath heavy, her unknowing movements inviting him on, harder, faster. Wave after wave of desire spread through her belly, tension building, desperate for release. Oh, God… she wanted him… wanted him now… right now… no matter if the vampire pressed forward. Her body was trembling with arousal and she whimpered as Mick's mouth roamed to her other breast, continuing this sweet, sweet torture. Her hands skated over the tensed musculature of his arms and down across his back. She lifted her hips again, pressing herself against him, her desire clear. But instead of bracing, this time he thrust forward. Beth had never felt anything so intense. His mouth locked to hers once more, his tongue thrusting in time with the movement of his hips, his rumbling groans shooting waves of arousal through her body. One of his hands caught the tenuous ribbon of her slip, tearing, almost silently, casting it aside. Her pulse kicked up again and she knew he wouldn't hesitate any more. Her hands reached his belt buckle at the same time as his and they tugged open his belt and jeans together, the rest of his clothes following within seconds._

_Beth held her breath, eyes closed, as she felt him enter her, sliding in, slow, agonizing. She met his advance, taking him in, deeper, feeling him completely inside her. God, she had never wanted a man so much and it was so incredible finally to feel him that way, so close, so warm, so alive. She wrapped her arms around his neck, his head, let her fingers run through his thick curls, touched her lips to his ear, his neck._

'_Mine… mine… only mine…,' __a little __voice hammered against her, within her, as he began to move, teasing, slow and gentle. Beth's breath fractured. Her blood was rustling through her veins, all her senses heightened. She sensed the strain as he held back, tension wracking his body, but he couldn't stop. His movements grew faster, wilder. She latched on to him, held onto his shoulders and tried to meet his thrusts, to attune to his rhythm, to enhance his and her own arousal. She felt the flexing of his strained muscles beneath her fingers, tasted his skin, drew in his smell as she gave in to her instincts, curving her body to him, inviting, insatiable. The tension inside her became unbearable, their moans rising, meeting, louder… Now… now… please… _

_With a deep growl Mick stilled. The briefest pause as he buried his head to her shoulder, breathing heavily, then he sat up, pulled her with him into a sitting position, still joined. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her so tight she could barely move. _

_Beth stared into his now-pale eyes, her gaze filled with pleasure, desire, thrill, need. Her belly throbbed and her whole body burned with longing. His desire matched hers, met hers, his skin warming, beads of sweat forming, breath and heart pounding._

"_Don't… move…," he whispered._

_Beth closed her eyes and took a deep breath, shaking. To feel him so deep inside her and not move seemed impossible. She couldn't… didn't want to…_

"_Beth… please…" He gripped her tighter__. __He__ tried with all h__is__ might to __keep her__ still__. __He__ clamped his eyes shut and gulped as she moved against him once more. When he opened his eyes they were fading back to soft b__lue__. Beth took his face in her hands, letting her thumbs run across his lips, then kissed him gently. She moved once more, feeling him gasp against her._

"_Let him…," she whispered against his lips. "He's a part of you… I'm not afraid…" She ran her hands through his curls, hearing him breathe in deeply and shakily. She kissed him again, this time asking, demanding, moving against him. Mick's groan became a snarl as she rocked, driven by her growing need. She trailed kisses from his cheek slowly down his neck, as Mick buried his face in the crook of her neck, breathing heavily. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as he started to move, falling into her rhythm. Her lips brushed his ear and for a moment she lost control, biting into the soft skin below. It was too much, a brutal growl as Mick pushed her down to the bed, driving into her, deep and rough. She lifted her hips to meet him, sensing that the last bit of his self-control was gone. His thrusts got harder, faster, more unrestrained. She wrapped her arms around his waist, dug her fingers into his damp skin and pressed her lips against his neck, matching his rhythm. His skin tasted of salt and Mick and she couldn't get enough of it. _

_Mick ran a hand down her side, over her hip, on, reaching the hollow of her knee, raising her leg to find a new angle. She cried out in ecstasy. Mick's breath was ragged, releasing a groan from deep within. Letting her leg fall he braced his arms either side of her, moving ever deeper and faster into her. His face was contorted with tension and Beth knew there was no turning back now. She tightened her legs around him, the tension in her belly now almost unbearable. She watched Mick's face, his pale-dawning eyes, as he moved over her. The ripple of muscle beneath velvet skin drew her up to kiss, to lick, to suck as she clung to him. She didn't need to see. She felt it. The vampire came forward to claim what was his and she invited him close, turning, exposing her neck in offering. His face was at her throat, hot breath meeting her tingling skin._

_With a final, deep thrust the line was crossed. She groaned into his shoulder as her body convulsed with the most powerful orgasm she had ever experienced. Waves of heat coursed through her as her body pulsed around him. Her heartbeat raced, higher, faster, light-headed and then it was there, the short, sharp pain, hidden in the echo of her climax. The sensation intensified, refusing to fade, climbing, building once more, flashing through her. The power left her feeling faint for a moment and her world grew dark, blood pounding in her ears, heart hammering in her throat. She felt a light suction at her neck and was almost disappointed when Mick suddenly drew back._

"_Oh, god," she heard him whisper as a wave of deep relaxation washed over her, calming the hum in her overheated body._

_His face was close, almost touching, his dark eyes looking at her full of sorrow. "I… I'm… so sorry," he stuttered, still not able to breathe evenly. She smiled at him, overjoyed, her eyes half closed as she tenderly caressed his face. A rush of exhaustion overwhelmed her. _

"_Beth?" His lips were so close that she raised her head and kissed him gently. She saw the confusion in his beautiful eyes as she leant back, smiling even more broadly than before. She closed her heavy eyes and sighed with deep, profound satisfaction. She was powerless against the pull of sleep, and she sank into its deep, dreamless embrace._


	9. For they sow the wind

_*__ It's me again with a new chapter. I still have no English Beta-Reader so be warned. There might be a lot of mistakes in this chapter. Is there anyone of you who feels like being a beta reader for this story for a time? It would be so great for I don't feel so well with posting chapters that are not reworked by a native English speaking person. Thanks a lot for your reviews. Your feedback motivates me so much to go on with translating. So feel hugged again. And now I wish you all much fun with the new chapter. Yours, Jenna*_

_Edit: Also this chapter is now beta-read! I thank you so much, Hope! You're a bless!_

**Chapter Rated: M for violence**

* * *

**For they sow the wind…**

* * *

"_Sometimes you need to leave a person to find him."_

_Heimito von Doderer_

* * *

To accept the fact that Mick wasn't alive anymore and just concentrate on the sweet revenge, which hopefully would be given to me very soon, was the best scenario one could come to in a situation like mine. My hope to find him alive hadn't been as huge as Beth's and due to that it was a bit easier for me to concentrate on the most important things happening right now. That didn't mean the pain in my chest had vanished completely – for it was much too deep – but in all these years I had strolled through this world, I had become a master of repression. Feelings like grief and despair were blocking my way and because of that I couldn't tolerate them. It was that cold determination that had helped me in my life so often to master many crises brilliantly that was now grabbing me again.

The guys had done well. They had succeeded in not only pinching all files and other correspondences from the office of the lab in a possibly record-breaking time, but also had been able to copy a huge part of the computer files including digital records of the security cameras of the last two days that had been installed in the corridors of the lab. I was watching these now, memorizing all the faces I could identify, more or less to bestow just-punishment on them for the crimes they'd done to us vampires. For the most part it was the same doctors and laboratory assistants over and over who were rushing with small wagons full of utensils through the corridors and disappearing into various rooms. Every now and then a stretcher was pushed out of a room on which a covered body was lying – most likely a dead vampire. And every time it happened, my guts convulsed unpleasantly for I was seized with the thought that one of them had to be Mick.

The pictures moved at a tearing pace over the monitor of my PC but with my vampire senses I caught every detail. My brain operated at full speed, while I was slightly nervous rolling Mick's ring between my fingers, letting it hit the table with a soft click every now and then.

And then something happened on the monitor. Several men dressed in white ran hastily through a corridor and vanished into a room. For a while nothing else happened. Then two men came out of the room again, arguing fiercely about something. One of them was Peterson I realized immediately. He was very agitated, wildly waving his hands about. He pointed a few times into the room and then disappeared into it again, shaking his head, while the other man walked away into another direction. I fast-forwarded a bit watching as all the men came out of the room again, now looking very depressed. Probably they'd 'accidently' killed the next 'test object' with their syringes and instruments…

I clenched my teeth fraught with rage and fast-forwarded once more. I stopped, when after a few hours Peterson reappeared in the corridor – this time he brought a stretcher along. He went into the same room like before and only came out of it after a long while. On the stretcher now lay a body veiled with a white sheet – the vampire, who had probably died before and the thought that this could be Mick slowly maddened me. But then I stumbled and stopped the record. I winded back just a few seconds and zoomed in the picture, and then I let the record run again. Peterson moved the stretcher through the corridor and at exactly the moment when he passed the camera he lifted his gaze. I pressed the stop key and bent forward. Yes, he looked up directly into the camera and fear was distinctly showing in his eyes. _Why was this man afraid? Things like that actually should be ordinary to him. _

I turned my back to the PC and stood up. My eyes roamed over all the files, documents and miscellaneous things from the lab I had spread out on my desk and finally they found what they were searching for: the minute book from the control room. I grabbed it in a rapid move and flipped through it that impatiently; several pages that were loose fell to the ground. But then I found it, the date that was also seen in the bottom edge of the video record.

'02-26-09 – 2.00 a.m. – Dr. Peterson – corpse elimination,' was written there in quite a scrawl. My gaze roamed on to the next lines: '7.00 a.m. – Dr. Peterson missed – larceny of corporate property – probably absconded'

That was the reason he had looked so frightened! He had stolen the corpse, had escaped for whatever reason and now the whole world was searching for him. But why? Why had he done it? Had he discovered something he didn't want to share with anyone? Had he discovered what he had been searching for: the _Elixir of Life_, won from the blood of a dead vampire? What had he done with the corpse? Had it been Mick?

I breathed in deeply and closed my eyes for a moment. 'Think rational! Don't think about Mick!' I told myself. And when I opened my eyes again I knew what I had to do. I reached for the telephone and called Logan.

"Yeah! Josef Kostan's underpaid bond-slave here, who's there?" he roared through the line cheekily.

"Narrow the search down to just Frank Peterson!" I said brusquely. "Who of your friends are looking after the security cameras of the banks in Nevada and California?"

Logan pored of that question for a few seconds and I rolled my eyes – unfortunately not visible tor him.

"Logan!" I snapped at him impatiently when it took too long.

"Yeah, mate… just let me think… I think it was Fred… and Jeremy."

"Tell them to call me instantly when Peterson draws money somewhere – he can't be that far away so quickly. He's wanted everywhere. And he needs money to disappear…," I thought for a moment, "… and it would be best if they try to resort to the archives of the last two days…

"To the archives…? Do you know about how many banks we're talking here?" Logan replied and already sounded totally exhausted. "They can't…"

I didn't let him finish. "Then you'll simply help them! And you certainly have much more of those freaky friends! Call them or I'll blame _you_ if that bastard slips away!" With that I slapped the telephone down into its cradle and flung myself into my leather armchair shaking my head. Of course I knew it was possible the doctor had already left this state. Two days were definitely enough for that. But I wanted to try it at least. People did the strangest things when they were in panic… like for example stealing corpses…

A peculiar feeling was spreading inside of me at this thought and my gaze fell again onto my terribly mussed up desk, wandering to the test person's files.

"That's utter bollocks," I grumbled to myself; I bent forward and grabbed the topmost file - Mick's file. I opened the first page and skimmed through the lines that had given me that horrible sting down in the laboratory:

_ 'Pronounced dead after medication overdose – organ failure – 02- 25- 09 – 11.43 p.m. – corpse released for incineration'_

My stomach did a little flip when I deciphered the signature. Peterson – unmistakable. Why hadn't that caught my eye before? And the date and time confirmed that the body on the stretcher indeed had to be my friend's… He had taken Mick along…

"That doesn't mean _any_thing," I told myself sternly and shook my head. Mick was dead –_ if_ anything he had just taken his corpse along… hadn't he?

I uttered an angry growl, leaped up again and paced through my office. Somehow I had to convert my uproar into action. Why on earth was this little ray of hope inside of me flashing up again and yet again? That was totally crazy! I was clearly much too old to believe in fairytales – being honest I didn't even do that as a child. I had always been a rational person. In my life there had never been much room for romance, superstition and deep feelings. Well, the encounter with Sarah had changed me but after all, and_ especially_ in regard to that wonderful woman, life had shown to me that there were no fairytales in this world. Why did I now have such problems to understand that reason regarding Mick? Instead of that I clutched at every straw I could get hold of, however short and breakable it was.

I heard a muffled sound from the upper floor and then heard Beth calling my name and clattering down the stairs. Something was wrong – I could feel it instantly and began to walk to the door when my telephone started to ring. A low curse escaped my lips and I ripped the phone out of its station.

"What's up, Logan?!" I snapped impatiently.

"I've got Fred in the line. His job is to watch the cameras of the banks in L.A. and he has checked some of the older records for us," Logan hurried to say. "Peterson has unsuccessfully tried to draw money just a few hours ago – in the _Lions Bank_ near the medical school in L.A.! Soon after that he used his credit card to pay in a drugstore nearby!"

Beth pushed open the door to my office breathless and agitated. "Josef! Diana just called me…"

I stopped her with a braking gesture and took a deep breath to subdue the burgeoning turmoil in my stomach. "Okay, Logan," I was able to say fairly composed. "You call the other ones and fetch the van – you know which one! And then we'll meet in front of the university in half an hour!"

"Half an hour? I won't make it in…"

"Half an hour – or you'll get to know a side of me you won't like very much!" I quickly ended the conversation, threw the phone onto the table and approached Beth, who was looking at me a bit frightened. "I know where Peterson is!"

Beth nodded. "Me too! He has returned to the University!"

I contracted my brows, confused.

"Diana just called me," she explained before I could ask. "You know, the student. She thinks she saw Peterson near the vacant wing of the medical school. But he disappeared so quickly that she wasn't able to follow him."

"Vacant wing?" I probed, keen-eared. "Are there laboratories or examination rooms there?"

Beth frowned. "I think so because the university hospital is on the same site. The south-wing is closed for repair work but it also still belongs to the medical section… Why are you asking?"

"I can't explain it for now," I responded impatiently, grabbed my leather jacket which was hanging on a coat-tree in the corner and slipped past her out of the door. Naturally she followed me immediately.

"We're driving to the University?" she asked and I stopped in my tracks when I reached the front door. I inhaled deeply but then just knitted my brows. "There's no sense in telling you that this is too dangerous and you should stay here is it?"

"No," she said honestly and smiled. Somehow she looked so enchanting the way she was standing there in front of me with her tousled hair and her still red-rimmed eyes which were suddenly so full of life again that I couldn't help returning her smile.

"So, go ahead!" I said as I opened the front door and let her lead the way.

On our way to the University I told Beth everything I had learned so far and her eyes got wider and wider while I was talking.

"But why is he still here?" she asked the moment we stopped a fair way off the main building under a big tree. "Why hadn't he packed his bags and escaped to Mexico or somewhere else?"

"Because he's one of those crazy persons who are not able to break off work until they've found what they're searching for," I explained, opened the door and got off the car.

Beth followed me immediately. "But the whole world is searching for him and only a few people want to get him alive."

"Well, that's not a surprise," I hissed through gritted teeth and let my gaze roam across the area. There were just a few lights burning in the main building – in marked contrast to the hospital buildings, which were stretching into the dark, cloudy night sky on the opposite side of the road. The main entrance was brightly illuminated and also in some of the rooms people seemed to be awake. The rest of the terrain was covered in thick darkness – no wonder in view of the late hour. Nevertheless, I was relatively quickly able to locate the part of the medical school that was unused at the moment for someone had raised a scaffolding at one side of it.

"Do you really think he had taken a corpse along?" Beth asked and I could feel what she actually wanted to know. But I couldn't and didn't want to answer that.

A low buzzing noise not far away from us was announcing the arrival of the van. Logan had been smart enough to switch off the headlights. The van was painted black and one had really a problem locating it in the dark; at least if one wasn't a vampire.

Logan stopped directly in front of us and I pushed a surprised Beth over to the backdoor of the car to enter it along with her. Apart from all manner of technical equipment there were also the four participants of our last joint action in the back of the van. They looked a bit tired out and harried, but gave us relatively friendly nods when we sat down next to them.

"And? This time possibly a bit more action? Something really exciting?" Max asked with half of a smile. I reacted just with a return of his smile and then knocked impatiently at the tinted window that was separating the back part of the van from the cockpit. Logan instantly let down the window and looked at me questioningly.

"Drive to the back side of the building!" I instructed him. "I don't want us to be seen so easily!"

Logan just nodded and moved off so jerkily that we all slipped aside.

"Jerk!" snarled Phillip, whose head had slightly hit one of the instruments, and punched the wall. Logan dipped in his head guiltily and murmured a soft "Sorry…"

I gritted my teeth trying not to burst into loud swearing as well and shook my head.

"Well," I said breathing in deeply and reached into my pocket to get out Petersons profile and to show it to the others. "We're searching that man! He has to be somewhere here in this closed part of the building – probably in the lower areas like the ground floor or the cellar. There ought to be laboratories…"

"Man, not again!" Mark moaned. "That's…"

An annoyed frown spreading across my brows was enough to silence him very quickly. The van now started to jolt so much that we all had to hold fast onto something. Logan had obviously decided to shorten the way a bit and was driving across the grounds.

"Logan!" I uttered with an angry growl.

"We're almost there!" He replied, took a sharp curve which let us all almost fall onto each other once again as he braked hard.

I wanted to jump onto my feet and go for Logan's throat but a hand had softly gripped my arm and was holding me down. I looked at Beth, annoyed but she just shook her head and somehow I was able to collect my wits. I turned to our companions again.

"I want that man alive," I went on distinctly and looked at each of them. "He's mine! And I'll come with you!"

I felt Beth looking at me concerned but I didn't take notice of her. Instead of that I opened the door to let them all get out. I saw Logan climbing into the back of the van and hurried out of the van. As useful as he was I simply couldn't bear that guy nearby. He began to bring his instruments into position while I was turning to Phil.

"Did you find out where the control room of this building is?"

Phillip nodded and put on his headset. "I'll take care of the watchmen," he said with a small grin. I nodded, satisfied, and he disappeared into the darkness of the night with a catlike speed only vampires possessed.

"What does he mean by 'he'll take care or the watchmen'?" Beth asked next to me with skepticism in her voice.

"Don't fret, he won't kill them," I explained soothingly while I was putting on one of the bullet-proof vests the others had brought along. It wasn't that we could die from bullet wounds but it was painful and produced a relatively high blood loss – something we didn't really need in a battle. "We just don't want to have spectators during this operation."

Beth just nodded and eyed me pensively from top to bottom.

"Somehow I can't escape the feeling you don't want me to come with you," she said.

"That may be due to the fact that you're right with that guess, " I answered honestly and gave her an apologetic smile. "Listen, you're a greater help if you support Logan here outside and look for possible sources of danger or other inconveniences." I pointed at Logan one who was switching on a few monitors and concentred the antenna on the car roof onto the building.

"Are you expecting someone?" Beth asked warily.

"Peterson made a mistake in trying to get some money," I explained, tensely, "a mistake certainly that the finks of the _Legion_ have noticed. The fact that they aren't here yet doesn't mean that they're not coming."

Logan gave a whoop of joy and we both turned to him.

"I'm in the monitoring system of the university," he said, radiant with excitement. "Now no one can escape us. Wait…" He fed his computer with a few commands and on the small monitors of the van appeared different pictures of the inside of the building. "Voilá!" he grinned. "The south wing may be closed but the cameras are still active…" He suddenly paused and stared tensely at one of the monitors. "Oh, oh!"

"What does 'oh, oh' mean?" I asked sharply and was instantly at his side. Some dark figures were moving in one of the corridors, equipped like us with heavy firearms and bullet-proof vests – but they were masked like all people who worked for the_ Legion_.

"Where did they suddenly come from?" Logan changed the picture on one of the other monitors and now we could see the front side of the building. But there was nothing to be seen. Probably they had hidden their car somewhere beyond reach of the cameras and so well that even we hadn't been able to discover it.

"Fu…" I saved the rest of my curse and instead grabbed one of the headsets and switched it on. "Phil?"

"Josef! We're not alone any longer!" his troubled voice filtered down to me. "The watchmen had been knocked off… I'm on my way back to you…"

"Go to the building, we'll join up with you straight away!" I replied and quickly turned to Beth.

"You stay here!" I said strictly and looked at her urgently. "You do not leave Logan's side until we're back again – no matter what happens!"

To my relief she nodded agreeing and I went off, followed by the other heavily armed vampires. Tonight it would become gory – tonight was the night of revenge…

* * *

The six men in black were fast. They pushed open the doors to the many rooms of the building section by section and so combed through the ground floor at a spanking pace. The building was indeed very large but the men of the _Legion_ had to have been there a while for they now left the ground floor and stormed into the hallway. Just a few minutes later they appeared in one of the monitored parts of the cellar-corridor and quickly worked their way forwards. Beth's heart was pounding hard in her chest. She was worrying about Josef and the other ones although she knew that the vampires were far less endangered than the humans who were hurrying through the building. But for the first time in her life she didn't care about the humans in this situation. They had murdered Mick… they didn't deserve pity. And there was such a weird feeling, such a creepy foreboding that was telling her something important would happen, something that would change everything and was calling for quick action.

"And?" she asked Logan now for the third time, while she was nibbling tensed at one of her already much too short fingernails. "Can you see him somewhere?"

Logan rolled his eyes irritated. "Look for yourself! Besides I've already told you that not every room has got a camera. Peterson could be anywhere. Maybe he's dozing somewhere… But there are our boys!"

_ Our boys_? Beth bit back a grin at the thought how Josef would react to Logan calling him that and concentrated on the things happening onto the monitors. It was amazing what one could do with money and knowledge… She had a wonderful view of all corridors and the entrance area and so was able to follow what was happening there. The 'boys' had just passed the entrance and were now rushing down the long corridor.

"Where are they?" she could hear Josef's voice through the headset she had got from Logan.

"One floor below. The hallway is not far away from you," Logan explained calmly. "Just a while straight ahead, then right and then left again. But be careful, they are heavily armed!"

Josef didn't answer and Beth watched fascinated at how the vampires were moving past the camera in an incredible speed.

"Fuck!" Logan suddenly swore next to her. "We've got more visitors!"

And in fact Beth now watched herself as two dark vans stopped in front of the entrance and almost a dozen black dressed men with stocking masks and heavy arms jumping out of it. One half of them stormed through the entrance, the other disappeared somewhere to the side. Beth lifted her hands to her mouth, horrified.

"Hurry up!" Logan called alarmed, while Josef and the other vampires approached the end of the corridor and in doing so also the hallway. "They don't look very amicable!"

Cold terror was grabbing Beth as her gaze fell onto one of the monitors: A door in the corridor of the cellar opened and Peterson came out at just the moment when the first group of 'legionnaires' was reaching that part of the corridor. He tried to flounce off and to flee but the men in black were too fast, grabbed him and held him.

"Fuck!" she heard Logan call into the micro again. "They got him! They caught Peterson! Down in the cellar! Back part!"

One of the men looked into the room and was suddenly very agitated. He gestured wildly until one of the others pulled some weapon out of his things and disappeared with the other man in the room. The subliminal feeling in Beth's belly got stronger, more urgent and her pulse began to race. Her gaze stuck onto the monitor and like from far away she heard Logan spurring on 'his boys' to hurry. Oh, please, they just had to arrive on the scene every moment…

Beth held her breath unknowingly when the men came out of the room again. They weren't alone any longer, they brought something along… some_one_… She couldn't see his face for his head hung down limply and his bare feet didn't really do steps but were more or less pulled across the ground. But he wasn't dead. He was alive for he at least tried to move his feet every now and then… and the feeling inside of Beth became an urgent burning. She breathed heavily and haltingly while she watched Peterson fighting against his attackers who were pulling him into a totally different direction than the weak person they had retrieved from the room. Everything inside of Beth tensed up more and more while a crazy thought spread in her, one she wasn't allowed to have… But she had to… had to do something… had to know it…

"Holy shit!" Logan uttered and as if he had given a secret start signal suddenly chaos erupted.

Just then three men who were dragging off Peterson rounded the corner and crashed into the vampire group around Josef. At the same time six of the other men in black appeared out of nowhere in the corridor of the cellar and came upon the two men who carried the unknown person along. In a split second fire was opened on both sides and all hell broke loose. Bodies hit the ground, men leapt aside, people were screaming and blood was splattering… and nothing was able to keep Beth in the van any longer. Her mind had bowed out totally. She threw the headset aside jumped outside and ran off. She could hear Logan scream her name, could hear from afar the muffled machine-gun fire in the building in front of her but yet her feet were flying over the ground. There was no room for fear for herself inside of her. She just obeyed this unbelievable instinct, this torturing feeling in her belly that was trying to tell her in such an irrational way that it could be _him_… that he wasn't dead… She had to… _had to_ get there… _had to_ see him with her own eyes!

She didn't run to the main entrance but to the side of the building from which the other attackers had to have entered the building. She found a small emergency exit there. Its door had been opened violently with a blasting compound. Her heart was hammering like mad in her chest and her throat was totally dry when she entered carefully. But her steps became rapidly faster again, for her desire to know who it was got so strong that it was pushing back all her fears. She could hear cries of pain, loud shouts and again and again the banging of shots, but it seemed as if it was moving away from her. At a corner she stopped and peeked cautiously into the corridor ahead of her.

The sight before her was terrible. The walls were bespattered with blood. Despite their bullet proof vests two of the dark clothed men lay shot down in large pools of their own blood and were no longer moving. Someone had shot them in their heads. Beth's legs were shaking when she slowly stepped up to them. She couldn't tell who of the men belonged to which side of the _Legion_ because somehow it seemed as if everybody here was fighting against everyone else. But that wasn't really important. Her gaze had glimpsed something at the other end of the corridor – the bodies of two men. The dark clothed one was lying with the major part of his body on the other one, burying him half way under himself.

Beth's heart skipped a beat and pounded even harder against her ribs afterwards. She rushed forward although the screams and shots were still much too close. Other non-human noises mixed with them, sounds Beth was familiar with. The screaming of the humans got more piercing and fearful but they didn't touch her. Her heart was throbbing so painfully in her chest that it was hardly bearable and her legs were so wobbly that she was stumbling from time to time. Just three foot away from the two motionless men she stepped into a further pool of blood and suddenly slipped and fell to the ground. Shaking, she propped herself up onto her hands and raised herself up a bit. From the corner of her eye she saw people moving not far away from her around the next corner but she didn't care. She was in such a state of agitation, was so desperate that she couldn't think straight anymore and so she pulled herself up partly and slid on her knees over to the two men. She grabbed one arm of the man in black, who was looking at her with dead eyes, the rest of his face hidden with his stocking mask. She pulled his arm with all the might but wasn't really able to pull him off the other man, who was lying on the ground with his face turned away from her. He was much too tall and heavy. Exhausted she let go of him, turned and braced her feet against his upper body and finally he moved, slid down from the other man.

Beth paused, her whole body trembling. Her gaze wandered insecurely over the shape of the man. She knew it was crazy, knew it couldn't be… he looked so different, so much more slender and his hair had been completely sheared not long ago. Now it was just a few millimeters long. So different… yet still the hope was suddenly back again, was so huge like it had never been before, for there was something so familiar to him…

Beth's quivering fingers reached out for the man's shoulder, pulled at him with all her might. One of her hands slipped under his body, so that she was embracing him halfway and finally – finally she succeeded in turning him, in pulling his upper body onto her lap. When her fingers gripped onto something warm and soggy she barely noticed. She was too anxious to finally look into his face, the face that was still turned away from her.

"Please… please," she whispered as her shaking hand was roaming to his neck, was gingerly touching his warm cheek to turn his head to her.

Her heartbeat stopped for a moment when she was looking into his thin but so unbelievingly familiar face, the face that had haunted her in her sad memories, the face she had so painfully longed to see again – and all the accrued feelings, all the fear, sadness and despair of the last days all of a sudden came crashing down on her with such a force that a deep sob that shook her whole body emerged from her throat and she immediately began to cry.

"Mick…," she uttered and her voice was not more than a croaking whisper. He was alive… God, he was _alive_!

"Mick…" Her hand caressed his cheek unbelieving as she was trying to blink away her constantly flowing tears which made it difficult to see him clearly. Unknowingly she pressed his enfeebled body more tightly against her own, enfolded him in her arms as if she never ever wanted to let go of him.

"We're here… we're here," she managed to say softly and went on caressing his face tenderly and cautiously as if she was afraid he could break to pieces. His lids fluttered and she was crying and laughing at the same time when he opened his eyes, endeavoring to recognize the person who was holding him.

"Oh, God, Mick," she sobbed stifled. "Do you hear me?"

He didn't react. His eyes looked glazed and couldn't hold the contact with hers. And he breathed so heavily and irregularly.

"We… we've found you," she went on, trying to sound calm but she didn't really succeed in that for she was hardly comprehending that she was holding him in her arms again so suddenly - Mick, her Mick. "We'll get you out of here!"

His skin was so hot beneath her fingers, so unusually hot… beneath her fingers and bedaubed with blood… bedaubed with his blood…

He coughed frailly and screwed up his face in pain and the distressed sound erupting from his throat pierced her marrow and bone. Only now Beth's gaze roamed over the rest of his body, noticed what she hadn't wanted to see first off. His shirt was soaked in blood and she could see several gunshot wounds in his chest and upper abdomen. Her throat tightened at the sight. Horrible memories of a situation very similar to this one surged up within her and panic grasped her. She first pressed one and then both her hands onto two of his unrestrained and bleeding wounds.

"Oh, God," she brought out with a mix of disbelief and despair. That wasn't allowed to happen again – couldn't happen! He was a vampire! He wasn't allowed to bleed like that!

"God, why doesn't that stop?!" she uttered in panic. "It should have been healed by now!"

And at the same moment she could feel the answer, could feel it beneath her fingers, in his warm body, his rattling, short breaths and the fast beat of the heart in his chest, that was pumping more and more blood out of his veins, taking away the strength he needed so badly. A scream of despair was forming in Beth's insides and finally she let it go, as loudly and urgently as possible. She screamed full of fear for the only person, who was able to help her now.

"JOSEF!"


	10. and they will reap the whirlwind!

_*__ Here I am again. Your reviews gave me the courage to post another chapter without having it reworked by a native English speaker (I have to go on like that until I've finally found a new Beta – I'm sorry). I thank you so much for your support. Your reviews are always making my day. And I'm glad my English isn't that bad that my mistakes are disturbing the reading flow. So I hope again that you'll enjoy this chapter as well, although it's a bit dramatic. Best wishes, Jenna*_

_Edit: And again a lot of thanks to Hope for editing this chapter!_

_**Chapter rated M for violence**  
_

* * *

… **and they will reap the whirlwind!**

It was an ugly fight – bloody, brutal, and without rules. The men of the _Legion_ hadn't been prepared to meet vampires here and today. They weren't armed well enough for a fight like that and that was giving us a cutting edge. We were faster, stronger and most of all more gory than them and the bullets hailing down on us couldn't really harm us for they were stopped by the vests we were wearing and even if a bullet hit an arm or a leg it just fuelled our broiling rage even more. On the other hand, _our_ weapons were much more dangerous for we carried them always on us and one couldn't relieve us of them…

I just needed a few seconds to free Peterson from the grip of our enemies. One man's neck splintered like unsound wood beneath my hands while the other collapsed to the ground by a pointed headshot of Max's gun and stayed down, lying motionlessly. Peterson reacted quickly and dashed off but he couldn't rival an enraged vampire.

I cut his way with just one flying leap, grabbed his throat and rammed him against the wall to push him up on it a bit. There he dangled, helplessly gasping for air, and was trying to pry my fingers off of his throat while I just showed him my sharp teeth with a cold smile.

But I wasn't allowed to savor his fear any further. Once more bullets were hissing through the air and the next moment a sharp pain flashed through my thigh. I let go of Peterson and sank on my knees while he was falling down onto his side, coughing and rattling.

This time they came from two sides and they were many – too many to map out a strategy first. With a hateful, abyssal growl I launched myself on the first available opponent and rammed my sharp canines mercilessly into his carotid. For a short moment I savored the gurgling sounds coming out of his throat while he was sinking to the ground in his death throes, but the painful kick to my face the next second reminded me that I couldn't make time for my opponents. Yet while falling I caught hold of my attacker's leg, pulled him with me and sank my fangs deeply into his calf. The man was giving a shrill yell and now fell to the ground as well but he didn't get back onto his feet as quickly as I did. Quick as lightning I was above him grabbed his head and twisted his neck 360 degrees, making a loud crackling sound. With an unbelievable fast rhythm my heart was pumping huge amounts of adrenalin through my veins which made sure that the energies released in my body that were of super-human nature. I loved that thrill – it made me a bloodthirsty beast – but I loved it.

From the corner of my eye I saw two projectiles heading for me and cast aside but not without using my drive to turn and dash at the two men who were aiming at me with peculiar crossbows. One of them was rammed by my shoulder with such a might, he was flying several meters through the hall before he hit the floor while the other one's jawbone was giving in to my fist with a unsavory crackling. He had no time to feel the pain for I broke his neck even before he fell down onto his knees. To my own chagrin, I just hadn't enough time to bite down.

For another moment I was free and noticed just in time that Peterson was trying to steal away in the tumult of the battle. I ducked quickly and darted forward, and with just one leap I at his side and collared him before he was really on his feet. But this time I wasn't able to take him to task for another man threw himself with utter fearlessness onto me, a stake in his raised hand. I let go of Peterson unwillingly and grabbed my attacker's hand just in time. His eyes opened widely, horrified when I was pulling him close to me. "Did you want to ram that into my eye?" I hissed through bared teeth. "Did you want to?"

He had no time to answer me for I raised his own hand and rammed the stake into his throat. Then I pushed the jerking body off of me and leapt to my feet again. From somewhere I could hear someone calling my name barely audible and despite the bloody tumult of the battle I took a few seconds time to locate where the calls were coming from. Finally I spotted the headset I had lost in the whole chaos just a few meters apart from me.

Hell yeah! Logan! I punched my elbow into the face of the next approaching attacker and picked the set up quickly.

"Yes!" I shouted into the headset and ducked from another man's skilful karate kick.

"Finally!" Logan screamed into my sensitive ears. "Beth is gone!"

"Gone?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing and stopped dead in my tracks.

"She… she went hog wild! I think she's coming in!"

"In?"

"Are you an echo or something?" was the last thing I heard from Logan before one of the attackers launched on me with a roaring scream and we both were painfully hitting the floor. Again the headset went hurtling through the air. The man was heavy and battle-tested and I had trouble trying to get him off of me. Yet a brightly polished stake was shining in his hand and he was definitely not able to jab it into my heart. I wanted to grab his arm and stop him but in the same second I felt something cold and hard next to my hand and instantly knew what it was. Within a split second I grabbed the gun, pointed it at my attackers head and pulled the trigger at the same moment the stake was hurtling towards my face. Blood and pulp that I didn't want to think about was slapping into my face and the now faceless man above me collapsed onto me. Disgusted I pressed my hands against his chest and pushed him off of me. When I was able to stand up again my eyes were instantly searching for Peterson and found him… at the end of the hall on his way into freedom. I uttered a brutish growl, ducked and dashed off. Quickly, before he managed to open the door into the hallway I grabbed his coat and threw him aggressively back into the hall. He seemed to be more solid than he looked for I couldn't hear his bones break when he heavily hit the floor. But he stayed lying down and moaned, racked with pain. Contusions could hurt…

A deep, horrific calmness affected my body when I approached him slowly, an evil grin on my lips. This time I _could_ take my time, for the other vampires were now controlling the situation – it was just a matter of time until the last attacker had heaved his final breath. And I_ wanted_ to take my time… oh, yeah, much time… for he also had taken that much time with Mick – one year of terrible torments, captivated and abused like a laboratory animal…

Everything inside me was crying out for blood… for blood and pain for that devil. A menacing growl emerged from my throat. I collared him and lifted him from the ground with just one arm until he was at eye level with me. Then I bent forward and came so close that our noses were almost touching. But he didn't seem to be afraid anymore, was too exhausted and had given up by now.

"You… you're making a mistake…," he whispered weakly.

I tilted my head aside and smiled at him. "It won't be the first in my long life…," I said low-voiced as I showed him my fangs.

The scream was so loud, so desperate and full of fear, and it sent a freezing shiver through my body. I identified her voice instantly and knew that something terrible must have happened. And suddenly my revenge didn't matter anymore. It felt like I was waking up from a deep trance and my human self was taking over now. I let Peterson fall down and made a dash, leaped over the many bodies lying on the floor, ran past my still fighting friends and darted around the next corner. There I stopped dead and grew stiff for a moment. Beth was kneeling on the ground, holding a man's limp body in her arms and at the same time trying to stop his bleeding with both hands. When she saw me, she tried to say something, but just a desperate sob emerged from her throat.

I began to move forward like a robot and for the first time in a long, long time I felt my knees turn to jelly the closer I came. My throat tightened suddenly and at the same time I felt as if an iron claw would grasp my heart and compress it painfully. What I saw, what I believed I perceived straight away, couldn't be, couldn't… Yet still I knew it, sensed it before Beth's beseeching gaze hit me, begging me to help her, to do something: It was Mick. My best friend I'd believed to have lost forever and he looked dreadful. To see him like that was painful to me, made it difficult for me to breathe properly… emaciated, humiliated… destroyed…

What had they done to him?

But there was something else, something that was confusing me deeply. Not only he was bleeding from several bullet wounds at his chest and the abdominal area, his blood… it smelled like human blood! There was just a very tender tang of vampire blood in the air, as if someone had just changed him into a human… Changed him into a human?! Suddenly I understood Beth's desperation and I put all questions, all feelings aside quickly and fell on my knees next to her. My gaze was roaming hastily over his maltreated body, examining the different entry wounds and finally stopped at his face. He was incredibly pale and was breathing heavily and unsteadily. His eyes were slightly opened but were gazing into space; not really recognizing anything. Someone had filled him full of drugs he was totally absorbed in his own world. I could see it in his eyes and also smell it in his blood. It was definitely possible he was barely feeling any pain – what was indeed advantageous.

"We… we have to lay him down flat, but let's try not to move him too much," I told her in a breathy voice and helped her to pull him carefully off her lap. Mick began to cough and my insides convulsed when blood appeared on his chapped lips.

"Mick, stay with us!" Beth uttered now firmly. "Stay with us, do you hear me?! Do it!"

I had to wonder about her optimism again. Everything in me told me that our friend was in very bad shape. And I really didn't know what to do. Contrary to Mick, I hadn't much experience in dealing with bullet wounds. I had stayed out of most of the human wars and was generally not the first person who went to a casualty's rescue, when they lay in a roadside ditch. What we desperately needed here was a doctor… or a miracle.

I inhaled deeply, then pressed my own hands onto the other two wounds and turned a bit.

"MAX!" I shouted as loud as I could and just a few seconds later he hurried towards us.

"Oh… my… Is it…"

I didn't let him finish. "The doctor – where is he?!"

He looked at me confused. "What doctor?" His eyes widened, when it dawned on him of whom I was speaking. "Oh, fuck…"

That didn't sound good. Apparently no one had taken care to watch Peterson in the battle and he for sure was not just standing in some corner and waiting for my return after I had treated him so harshly. I suppressed a curse and lowered my head to sort my thoughts. The intense smell of fresh blood rising from Mick slowly started to bemuse my senses. When I looked up again Phillip, Mark and William had appeared as well.

"Okay," I said tersely. "Find a stretcher, a cot… something we can transport him on – quickly!"

My friends didn't need to be told twice. As fast as they had appeared they were gone again.

"Josef…," Beth brought out with tearful voice. "I know you can hear it… is his heart still beating regularly?"

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the sounds Mick's body was uttering. Yes, his heart was beating – fast and astoundingly strong considering his desolate state. But there was another nasty sound – a cracking and crunching in his left lung exactly at the place where Beth was keeping one of his wounds shut with an enormous effort.

I nodded at her and tried to give her an encouraging smile, but it didn't really come off. One bullet had damaged his lungs – what else had the others done to him? It was certainly just a matter of time when his ailing circulation collapsed and stalled his heart. We were running out of time…

"Can… can't you just turn him into a vampire again?" Beth asked shakily.

I looked into Mick's pale face and then shook my head.

"W... why not?" she uttered with a sob.

"Beth, look at him," I responded softly, but she really didn't seem to understand what I was driving at.

"Not every human survives a turning," I explained as calmly as I could in this situation. "To turn a seriously injured person succeeds in just the rarest cases. And we don't know what they've done to Mick – I… I just can't do that!"

A loud rattle and quick steps were announcing the others' return. They had succeeded in their search and now quickly moved a stretcher to us.

"Can we move him?" Beth asked with a shaky voice.

"We have no choice," I gave back quietly although the thought scared me as much as her. I looked up at the others without reducing the pressure onto Mick's wounds. "Can you put it down somewhere?"

Max looked at the stretcher more closely and then nodded to my relief. He and Mark moved two levers at the sides and the stretcher sank down to the ground next to us with a squeaking sound.

"What… what happened to him?" Phillip asked confused.

"He's a human," I explained shortly. "And he'll die if we don't take him to the hospital now!"

"I'll get the van," William said instantly and turned around to hurry on. Finally, someone who was thinking!

"Drive to the side entrance I came through!" Beth called after him. "There are fewer stairs!"

William turned while running and nodded, and then he disappeared around the corner.

I took a deep breath and looked at Max and Phil. "One of you has to take his legs and the other his upper body and you…," I looked at Mark, " … have to push the stretcher below his body, when the others lift him up."

Mark nodded shortly and Max and Phillip got instantly in position. Again I inhaled deeply. "On three; one… two… three!"

We were really quick and Mick came down on the stretcher relatively softly but yet he began to cough again and tiny drops of blood spurted from his mouth. Beth looked at me horrified and I tried to comfort her at least with my gaze for my mouth wasn't able to lead her to believe that surely everything would end well. Our hands were bathed in Mick's blood… we knew how serious the situation was. Max and Phil brought the stretcher carefully back on its previous height and we slowly rose with it, anxious to sustain the pressure onto his wounds. As weird as it seemed to be, somehow I had the feeling it was indeed helping and the flow of blood began to decrease.

"Okay, go, go!" I sped up the others and we set in motion at once as fast as we could do it in this situation. I clenched my teeth. Soon we would have to fold the stretcher to carry him up the stairs and get him into the van. And that also meant that Beth had to let go of him, at least for a few seconds. The question was if he would withstand that. No matter how quick vampires were, Mick's body had its own will and his all too human limits.

* * *

We didn't _step_ into the hospital, we _invaded_ it and the nurse who had been very near to sleep in her seat at her registration desk, almost lost her balance with shock. Of course we were a dreadful sight, two men whose faces and clothes were splattered with blood, a woman who was desperately pressing her hands onto the wounds of a badly injured man, who was moved into the hospital in a rush. But she collected herself amazingly fast, for she actually had to be prepared to get acute cases of emergency at night. She rushed to us loudly calling the name of a doctor who had to be somewhere around.

"Somebody fired at us," I said harriedly and noticed with relief that the doctor was storming out of one of the rooms a bit drowsy, putting on his white coat while walking.

"Four bullets hit him," I went on addressing him.

Just one look was sufficient to tell him that they had to move with great haste. Mick's state had distinctly worsened on the way to the hospital. He was now breathing very flatly and his heart was clearly beating much more unsteadily than before.

"Kathrin, see that an OR gets prepared and inform Dr. Mitchel and Dr. Burowski," the doctor instructed shortly. "Tell them we've an emergency patient with multiple gunshot injuries in the chest and abdominal area – possibly internal bleeding. And I need anyone else you can find, here – now – stat!"

The nurse hurried away and the doctor bent over Mick and simply pushed Beth aside to quickly inspect the wounds. "How long ago did this happen?"

"No longer than a half an hour," I answered back truthfully and watched two more men in white running through the hall towards us followed by another nurse. The doctor gave his colleagues quick, short instructions as chaos erupted. The nurse now also pushed Max harshly aside to move the stretcher forward into one of the trauma rooms. Beth and I were able to enter the room, but somehow it seemed suddenly as if we weren't existing any longer. The disorder and tension around Mick was telling me that his state was alarming and I suddenly felt so useless and out of place; I hadn't felt that way for a long time.

I almost jumped when the doctor talked to me again over his shoulder. "What's his blood type?"

"AO negative," I said quickly and Beth's gaze shot to me. She looked at me with an open mouth but didn't get anything out.

I could tell that the doctor wasn't very happy about this answer. "Get everything we still have," he said to one of the nurses. "And call the other hospitals nearby. Maybe they can accommodate with donated blood of this type…"

"I've got the same blood type!" burst out of Beth. "Take my blood!"

The doctor stared at her in surprise for a moment then he nodded quickly and gave one of the nurses a nod. She grabbed Beth's arm and pulled her along, although Beth didn't really want to leave Mick's side despite her offer. She searched my gaze and I just nodded. Beth understood without words that I would stay at Mick's side as long as possible and with that comforting thought she left the room without further resistance.

I breathed in deeply and tried to extinguish the numb feeling in my inside penetrating up from below which was so much stronger now, but there was nothing to do anymore. I persuaded myself that the doctors could really help Mick; that they would save him no matter how bad his injuries were. They had attached him to an instrument which was helping him to breathe and through a drip he got a solution which combined with the other infusions he had been given probably was supposed to stabilize his circular flow so they would be able to operate on him.

The doctors worked quickly and concentrated but one could tell that they were also burdened by strong tension and were expecting the worst any time. Again and again they cast concerned looks at the instruments with which they were able to check Mick's bodily functions. I tried to follow the hectic exchange between the doctors but through all those technical terms my head soon began to buzz.

"Did he take drugs?" suddenly a doctor addressed to me again. He had just looked into Mick's eyes with a light and now looked much more worried than before.

"I… I think, someone given him something," I explained. "Strong tranquilizers or something…" I hadn't thought about it anymore….

"Why didn't you tell that in the first place?!" he snarled at me and instantly gave short commands to the other ones. But yet the next moment the instruments around Mick began to beep alarmingly.

"Cardiac shock" and "ventricular fibrillation" were the only words I understood half way but the rest was totally lost in the general panic which was erupting all at once. One of the doctors pulled up a defibrillator and suddenly a nurse was standing in front of me, looking at me apologetically. "I'm so sorry," she said and opened the door, while my gaze was still pinned to the quickly working doctors and Mick's lifeless shape.

"Unfortunately you now have to wait outside." Her hands pressed against my chest and like in trance I let her push me out of the room, while I could hear my heart beating up into my ears. Only when the door closed in front of my nose did the realization dawn on me that we hadn't found Mick truly alive. It was easily possible that fate was taking him away from us yet again, ripping him out of our hands before we were able to truly grab him. The iron claw was back again and not only clutched at my heart but also squashed my innards painfully.

It was Max' loud voice that brought me back to reality by calling my name. He was standing at the registration desk, holding a telephone in one hand and trying at the same time to stop the nurse in front of him from grasping it without hurting her.

"If you don't hand the telephone back to me immediately I'll be forced to call security," she threatened, her voice almost cracking with rage.

I walked to them frowning and gave Max a questioning glance.

"The lady wants to call the police," he explained, looking at me insistently.

"Oh, yeah," I uttered instantly and gave her my most charming smile. "Of course you have to do that, when somebody with gunshot wounds is hospitalized."

"Exactly!" she retorted, still furious, but her voice yet sounded a bit softer.

"But… there are a few things concerning my friend and our work you don't know," I went on, "and unfortunately I can't let you in on them. But they call for not letting you inform the police for now…"

"Listen, that's…"

I didn't hear her out but gently laid a hand on her shoulder and looked at her urgently. "I not talking about not calling the police _at all_," I explained quickly. "It's just a delay of a few hours. Just until my friend has come through it all a bit…"

"I can't do that," she replied, but her voice was now softer and more amenable. "I could lose my job if I don't call…"

My gaze captured her hand, the golden ring that adorned her ring finger. "You're married, right?" I asked but didn't wait for an answer. "You certainly have children…"

"One daughter, but…"

Now I got her! There was one thing in this world you could always get your way with…

"How much money do you earn in this job?" I asked her gently. "Not much, right?"

She stumbled. "Why do you ask?"

Of course she would first play indignant – but it wouldn't work, I was dead certain about that. So I reached into the inner pocket of my jacket and pulled out my check book. I heard her gasping for air with resentment and I quickly grabbed both her shoulders.

"Just listen to me before you get angry," I told her and looked into her eyes urgently.

"This isn't about bribing somebody for camouflaging a crime or something. The crime has already happened… to my friend and this is about _his_ life! All I want to do for now is save his life! And I need time for that! I don't ask you _not to _do your job. I just ask you to do it _later_ – just later!"

She was swallowing heavily and I could see how hard her brain was working.

"I know you have to sustain a family," I went on, "and you need this job – and therefore I'm giving some security in case you get into trouble owing to your generous act."

I let go of her and leant onto the reception counter to write the check. I knew for sure she would wait. She would wait for she wanted to see how much my friend was worth for me, to see what she would miss out on, when she was deciding upon her own overdrawn values and attitudes of morality.

"If you really lose your job this will protect you and your family financially for a long period of time," I said quietly and pushed the check over to her. The nurse uttered an unbelieving gasp and her hand shot to her mouth,

"That… I can't… I…," she stammered and besides all her moral scruples I could see the human greed flaming up in her eyes. Money could make life so much easier…

"You can," I said firmly, folded the check, took her hand and pressed the precious paper into her sweaty fingers. "Just give us a little bit of time…"

For a moment I could see her conscience fighting bravely with her greed but then she finally nodded and turned her back on us a bit embarrassed to go on with her work at the reception counter.

For the umpteenth time this day I took a deep breath and then looked at Max. With one gaze I made it clear to him that he ought to come with me so we could speak freely with each other.

"That was close," he said when we were far enough away from the nurse.

I just nodded and nervously skimmed my hand across my face. "I don't know if Mick will survive all this – but nevertheless we urgently have to handle everything else."

"According to Phil the watchmen in the control room were dead," Max reported with hushed voice. "It'll take some time before someone discovers the massacre there below."

"It _mustn't_ be discovered," I said sternly and Max understood instantly.

"We'll take care of it," he replied as he started to turn from me. But I seized his arm.

"I need the helicopter. They certainly have a landing spot on the roof here. It has to be here no later than three hours."

Max' look showed me that my motives for that instruction wasn't clear to him but he was used to not asking questions. So he reacted again with a short nod and this time I let him go.

My heart took a leap when the doors of the trauma room opened and Mick was hurriedly moved out of it still surrounded by worried doctors and nurses. I instantly began to move and followed them but the doctor who had seen Mick first raised a hand in protest and stayed with me while the others went on with Mick.

"We were able to stop his bleeding and stabilize him for now," he explained swiftly, "but he must be operated on. It's possible that there is more internal bleeding and his lungs are very battered."

I nodded understandingly while my guts were twisting again.

The doctor inhaled deeply. Apparently he now got to one part of his job he didn't really like to do – the one as the bearer of bad news.

"I'll be honest with you," he said seriously. "Your friend has lost so much blood over a long period of time –his state is very critical. The bullets have caused damages in his body which aren't yet really foreseeable to their whole extent – but what we know so far is alarming. I can't promise that he'll survive that operation."

Again I just nodded for I knew even if I was trying to I wouldn't get out a word. For a moment the doctor looked at me sadly then he turned and disappeared behind the next door.

This time it was difficult for me to gather myself enough so that I was able to move at all. The fear for Mick was pressing on my whole body like a ton of weight. But I _had_ to move! There was so much to be done. Life wasn't waiting. Time was going on, was ticking like a bomb beneath the feet of the ones who weren't able to block out and forget. So I squared my shoulders and inhaled deeply and shakily. There was a plan which needed to be developed to ensure the survival of us all at least for the next 24 hours. We had declared war on the_ Legion_, had harmed them deeply. It was just a question of time when they would find out where we were.


	11. Angels

_*__ Hi, everyone out there! I thank you a lot for your feedback! Feel hugged and kissed! Great to know you like my fanfic. Although I'm very busy at the moment I can update a new chapter now for I have translated that one and two others a while ago. They just need to be reworked (still just by me – there's no beta in sight at the moment) and if I'm ready with that at the weekend I'll post another chapter then. I promise. Just need a little bit of feedback *blink, blink*. Hope you like that one, too. Best wishes, Jenna*_

_Edit: Jo1027, I thank you so much for your beta-work! I'm so glad to have you now on board as well!  
_

* * *

**Angels**

* * *

"_**There's no human who hasn't been led and protected by his angel; there are just a great many who've never noticed it, who've never thought about it."**_

_**Bernhard Martin**_

* * *

_The nightmare was over. She would get home again to her mum. She knew it for certain. She wasn't afraid any longer, not as long as her angel was close to her. He was able to protect her from all the evil of this world. No one could harm her as long as he was carrying her in his arms, holding her tightly and didn't let go of her._

_ Her mum had often told her this story, that every child was always accompanied by an invisible angel who was watching over them and guarding them against all the dangers of this world. She had always wanted to see him, her guardian angel, but he'd never shown himself to her, no matter how urgently she had asked for him, until tonight. Everything had been so horrible until he had appeared._

_ "Come on, I'm gonna take you home," he had said and at that moment she had known that he was her angel. She had let him take her in his arms and now he was carrying her through the night back to her mum. She was huddled up to him, holding fast to his jacket with her small hands and trying hard to keep her eyes open. She had to stay awake or maybe he would try to set her down and get invisible once again. One time, at the very beginning, he had tried it somewhere in front of a car. But she had started to whimper and cry when he set her onto her feet and he had crouched down in front of her to explain something to her. But she hadn't wanted to hear his words, had just wanted to be back in his arms again and had reached out her own arms for him. She had sobbed so heartbreakingly that he had finally given in to her and was now holding her in his arms, carrying her through the darkness that couldn't frighten her any longer._

_ It was a long way back home. They walked through many brightly illuminated streets with many cars and people around them and through smaller, calm streets, which were so quiet that she was able to hear his slow heartbeat and the deep, calm breaths he was taking. Sometimes when a loud noise echoed through the night she winced and began to cry again, for in that moment all the terrible pictures rose up in her mind. Precisely then he started to hum. Very softly he began to sing that song and it seemed to her as if it was the most beautiful music on earth, although it was just a simple lullaby, one she had known before. But out of his mouth it sounded as if it were meant only for her ears, as if it belonged only to her and she happily closed her eyes, a blissful smile on her lips. She didn't fall asleep but the low singing so close to her ear, the vibrating of his chest, was so wonderful, so comforting, that she was able to forget all the terrible things that had happened tonight. She felt so wonderfully comforted and knew she would never ever give her angel away again. She wished with all her heart that he would stay with her forever and sing this song to her every night. Her song. _

_ But all wonderful things end at some point and when Beth opened her eyes the next time her angel was walking through the garden gate of her home. Inside the house everything was still brightly illuminated and the next moment someone opened the door and her mother was running up to them with a loud sob. Beth instantly started to cry and reached out one hand to her mother, while still holding fast to her angel. Her mum tried to take her and she sensed her angel was trying to hand her over but she kept clinging to him while she wrapped her other arm around her mother's neck._

_ "Oh, Beth, Beth, everything will be all right again," her mum sobbed, caressing her face and kissing her forehead, her cheeks, her nose. "I have you back, just let go."_

_ But she couldn't. Otherwise her angel would disappear again. She only cried louder when she felt him reach for her hand and try to detach her fingers from his jacket._

_ "It's all right, everything's all right," she heard him say softly but she just screamed louder, and held onto him with both her hands._

_ "Wait, wait," she could hear her mother say with a shaking voice. "It doesn't make sense. Come in for a while."_

_ Beth wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and pressed her face wet with tears into his shoulder while her angel carried her into the warm, bright house. She looked up again and her sobbing died down, her tears slowly ran dry. Home, she was home._

_ "Look, honey," her mum said and skimmed over her blonde hair. "You're home. You're safe. No one will harm you here. You can let go of Mr. St. John."_

_ She shook her head and noticed her angel throw a helpless glance at her mother._

_ "Are you afraid he'll leave?" her clever mum asked gently and instantly tears shot into Beth's eyes as she began to sob again._

_ "Oh, dear, he doesn't have to leave immediately," her mother promised as her angel frowned, confused, but he nodded promptly with a soft smile when he noticed she was looking at him._

_ "Angel." she said very softly and he raised his brows surprised. Then his gaze became so warm and loving that she began to smile despite all the tears._

_ Her mother's hand shot to her mouth. "You think he's your guardian angel?"_

_ Beth just nodded and her angel uttered a small laugh._

_ "I'm so sorry," her mother stammered. "I've told her this story and…"_

_ "It's okay," he interrupted her still smiling and went into a kneeling position with Beth, so that her feet touched the ground. She wanted to protest but he didn't try to detach her hands from his neck and jacket, just looked her straight in the eyes. He had blue, benign eyes, with long, dark lashes, eyes only angels owned. Eyes she would never ever forget. _

_ "You know, Beth, angels like me don't guard just one child, there are not so many of us," he explained calmly and his voice was so warm and soft that she wanted to crawl up into his arms again, searching for the feeling of security she'd had while being enveloped in his arms as held her. "That's why every one of us has two or three children he has to care for," she heard him say. "But if you don't let go of me I can't help the other children when they need me. And then they'll weep bitterly. And you don't want that, do you?"_

_ Beth shook her head hesitantly and looked at her hands still clutching his jacket. _

_ "I'll come back," he promised. "If you need me, I'll be there, okay?"_

_ She looked at him and blinked away the tears threatening to run down her cheeks again. But she nodded and finally let go of him._

_ "I won't let anyone ever harm you again," he added. "I'll look after you, I promise!"_

_ "And I'll look after _you_," she sniffed and in that very moment she was convinced she could really do it._

* * *

It was the movement near her cheek that woke her. She had to blink a few times to orientate herself, to realize she was in a hospital, sitting on one of those uncomfortable chairs in the waiting area with her head resting on Josef's shoulder. She lifted her head drugged with sleep and searched for a clock on the walls but couldn't find one. Josef met her with a warm smile.

"It's five o'clock in the morning," he said and stretched.

Beth thought for a moment. The last thing she could remember was staggering out of the room where they had taken as much blood from her as possible without doing serious harm to her health. She had panicked when she hadn't found either Josef or any other familiar person. The nurse at the reception counter told her Josef had gone outside the building to make some calls and Mick had been taken into the operating room. When Josef came through the entrance door she was able to calm down again. Sometime later she must have fallen asleep out of exhaustion.

"How long has he been in the OR?" she asked calmly and suppressed a yawn.

"Four hours," Josef replied softly and she could sense the sorrow in his voice although he tried to hide it. "I think that's normal considering the seriousness of his injuries."

He rubbed his hands as if he was cold and Beth instantly knew he was keeping something from her. In this long, painful year during which this strange connection between them had developed, she had learned Josef was prone to displacement activities. When he had feelings he didn't want to have or when he tried to keep things to himself, he concentrated all his attention on something else and he had to do something with his hands.

Beth swallowed the lump in her throat. "How critical is his state, Josef?" she asked directly.

"He's safe, Beth." Just for a few seconds his gaze stayed on her face then it roamed to the entrance like many times before.

"That's no answer," she replied angrily. At this very moment the door opened and a tall, grey-haired man entered. He had a pointed beard and was wearing a long, dark coat. He was weighed down with the heavy looking bag usually carried by doctors.

Beth could hear Josef heave a sigh of relief and the next moment her friend was on his feet and hurried up to the new arrival. She followed him, confused.

"You cannot imagine how good it feels to see you!" Josef said. He was unusually openhearted and for a moment it looked as if he wanted to hug the stranger. Instead, he took his hand and squeezed it tightly. Judging by the way the man looked at Josef he wasn't used to that kind of welcome. Concerning his emotions, Josef seemed to be more worn out than he showed outwardly.

"Where's your friend?" the stranger asked finally.

"He's still in the operating room." Josef explained then took notice of Beth's questioning look.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," he said quickly. "That's Dr. August Kendlroe, an old friend and a brilliant doctor. August, this is Beth Turner, a very good friend of mine."

Of course, he was also a vampire which was probably the main reason why he was here. He was the only doctor who could get all the information needed to help Mick. Nevertheless, Beth felt a slight unease in her stomach and had a hunch there was another reason Josef had brought him here. After all, everything humanly possible was being done for Mick.

Beth cringed when the doors of the hall opened and Mick's attending doctor approached them still wearing his scrubs. He looked exhausted and very serious causing Beth's guts to convulse painfully. The doctor took a deep breath and his gaze roamed from Josef to her unable to say anything.

"So, first of all, tell me who you are and what your relationship is with my patient," he said roughly.

"I'm Beth Turner, his girlfriend, and Mr. Kostan here is his best friend," Beth blurted out. "He has no one else so, please, tell us if he's alive."

"Of course, excuse me," the doctor responded a bit more softly. "He's alive and the operation is over, but…" He knitted his brows in slight confusion. "There are a few things I don't understand…" He inhaled deeply and sorted his thoughts once more. "Your friend didn't have much luck as the bullets which entered his body have left behind substantial damage to some of his organs. One has injured his lung, another, one of his kidneys and a third, his stomach which caused stomach acid to leak causing additional damage."

Beth's hand shot to her mouth, horrified.

"If he hadn't been doped up with so many sedatives he would have been screaming in pain," the doctor went on. "In addition, these medications have produced a better and faster clotting of his blood, so we can be thankful for that. But, they're not solely responsible for him still being alive. And that's the actual miracle, for most people would have died within minutes from these injuries. But your friend has got an incredible immune system, and self-regulating forces like I've never seen anywhere before. And his haemogram…" The doctor lifted his hands in sheer speechlessness. "I've never seen anything like that before! Someone did something with his blood but I don't know what."

"Does it mean he'll survive?" Josef asked hopefully. The excitement immediately disappeared out of the doctor's eyes.

"Honestly?" He sadly shook his head. "Even though his body is capable of doing things we doctors have just dreamed of up to now, I can't imagine he'll make it. The high blood loss has weakened him badly and I think some of the damage is nearly irreparable. His body hasn't got enough time and isn't strong enough anymore to heal all that and to avoid infections, even with the support of all the medical care we've got here. And his heart won't withstand another physical load."

"But you've operated and doctored him!" said Beth impatiently. She didn't want to accept this terrifying statement. Mick wouldn't die, not now, when they had just found him!

"Miss Turner, we won't just give up," the doctor said clearly. "We've done everything we could. But we've reached our limits. All we can do now is wait! And that means we need a miracle. In my personal experience with cases like this I would say the odds are against him. I don't want to give you false hope."

Beth searched Josef's eyes but he was looking at the ground while his cheek muscles were twitching with tension. She inhaled shakily.

"Where is he now," she asked the doctor, trying to calm her voice.

"He's in intensive care," he replied calmly. "You can see him if you want to but I don't expect him to wake up any time soon."

If one could believe the doctor it would be a miracle if he were to wake up at all. Beth pushed that terrible thought aside and gave the doctor a nod. "Well," he said with a weak smile and turned. "I'll take you there."

Beth knew the doctor's chief concern wasn't just about helping them but also about learning more about his patient. Apart from all his true empathy and concern for his patient she had seen something else lighting up in his eyes. She had always been good about exposing people. This man admittedly was someone who wanted to do good deeds in this world, but like someone who lost himself in his work he had one passion: medicine. And a medical wonder like Mick seemed to, for whatever reason, fascinate him greatly.

"Do you know which doctor checked him before or where he has been the last few days?" the doctor asked carefully after taking a few steps. He addressed them both but as Beth took a breath to answer him Josef beat her to it.

"No," he lied, "he disappeared for a while and we just found him today."

"And then you were attacked?" the doctor probed into it warily. "By the people who abducted him?"

"I didn't say he had been abducted," Josef replied calmly but Beth could feel his tension.

"But…," the doctor started but Josef cut him short instantly.

"Listen, I'm really thankful for all the things you've done for my friend but I already had to tell the whole story to the policemen who were here earlier. Right now I just want to see my friend. Is that okay?"

It wasn't a serious question and the tone Josef used was much too caustic. Nevertheless, the doctor nodded reluctantly and led them on in silence. Beth noticed Josef bandying looks with his friend and wasn't surprised when his friend spoke immediately to their escort the moment they reached a paned door.

"I haven't introduced myself yet," he turned to the other doctor with a friendly smile and reached out his hand. "I'm Dr. Meyers, your patient's general practitioner."

The doctor took the offered hand in surprise and again curiosity flashed in his eyes. "Then we urgently need to talk with each other," he said excited as Josef's friend nodded his approval.

"Very urgently," he replied. "Do you have an office?"

"But of course," the doctor beamed but quickly got serious when he looked at Josef and Beth again. "You'll get along without me, won't you? Just go inside and don't touch anything, alright?"

"Of course not," Josef responded smiling and Beth threw him a questioning glance as she sensed he was lying again. But Josef put one arm around her shoulders, opened the door and shoved her in while the other two men walked away in a different direction.

Beth immediately turned to him and gave him a stern look. "What's going on here, Josef?"

Her friend lifted a finger to his lips and pointed with an urgent gaze behind her. Before she completely turned she remembered the reason they came here and she felt immediately sorry for her loud voice. Her stomach did a painful spin when her eyes glided over the person who was lying there in the bed totally wired and motionless, surrounded by beeping instruments with a wheezing respirator helping him to breathe. She felt tears welling up in her. She bravely pushed them back and walked over to Mick's side. She watched his pale, tense face for a long moment. His lids twitched from time to time, but he didn't open his eyes. She longed to touch him, to show him that she was there. But she didn't dare. She was afraid to start something, to upset him in his weakened state which might kill him. The fear was too great.

She felt Josef step silently next to her but didn't look up at him. "Why must this to be so hard for us?" she asked softly and angrily brushed a tear from her cheek that had dripped from her lashes. "Haven't we all suffered enough? Why couldn't we simply have found him hale and hearty?"

A sad laugh was escaped Josef's lips. "Hale and hearty? After one year?"

Beth took a heavy breath. "He has been through such a lot. He deserves to live. He deserves to recover as fast as possible."

"What we need is a miracle," Josef replied with a husky voice. "And you know, it's not the first time I've waited for one"

She just nodded and wiped two more tears from her face. "Fate won't leave you in the lurch two times," she said firmly and looked at him. "We just need to believe in it completely. The doctor said everything concerning Mick is somehow different and he can't explain it to himself. Maybe those scientists have somehow changed his body so that he's able to rejuvenate like a vampire does. I mean, that's the goal they wanted to reach, isn't it?"

"Beth, if he could do that he wouldn't be lying here in front of us like this, and we wouldn't have to fear for his life," Josef retorted.

"Then they just didn't succeed completely," Beth said. "It simply works slower, but he _can_ recover. That might be possible, right?" Oh, she hoped, wished for it to be so.

Josef looked at her pensively. "I thought about that, too," he admitted finally. "The truth of the matter is, it's the only hope we can cling to." He uttered a deep sigh and skimmed one hand across his face. "Beth, there are a few things that will happen right away," he suddenly said and she frowned, confused.

"And, I want you to know I'm trying to get us out of this whole thing, healthy and alive," he continued. His words caused new upset in Beth's stomach.

"What do you mean?" she asked alarmed, but Josef wasn't able to answer her for his friend, Dr. Kendlroe, opened the door, came in and closed it quickly behind him.

"I don't think we've got more than a quarter-hour," he said promptly to Josef and rapidly approached Mick's bed his gaze roaming over the instruments while Beth was looking open-mouthed from one to the other.

"The vital signs look okay so far," the doctor explained as he disabled the ECG and cut the other connections to Mick as well. "Let's go now."

"Oh My God!" Beth uttered, horrified. "You want to take him away from here?!"

Actually this question was pointless for it answered itself. The two men fastened all life-sustaining instruments to the hospital bed and showed in doing so that her presumption was right. Nevertheless, Josef turned to her and looked at her insistently.

"We need to get out of here, Beth!" he said emphatically as she watched his friend disrupting Mick's connection to the respirator and replacing it rapidly with a bag valve mask which he instantly began operating.

"You're going to kill him," she said, aghast, and planted herself in front of the bed. "He's just had surgery!" She usually trusted Josef, but this was pure madness!

"No. The _Legion_ is going to kill him," he said as he undid the brakes of the bed, "and all of us with him. They're searching for us now, Beth! But if we take him away with us he'll have a chance to survive. A small chance, I admit, but a chance!"

Beth shook her head unbelievingly although she began to think maybe Josef was right. But she was suddenly afraid, so terribly afraid they would become Mick's murderers in the end.

"How do you want to transport him?" she asked shakily.

"While you did your blood donation I organized everything," Josef explained. "Just trust me, Beth, please!"

For a moment she looked him in the eyes and all she could read in them was fear and concern for Mick. But he also was dead certain he was doing the right thing and that was enough for her to nod. Her legs were terribly wobbly when she went to the door and carefully looked out into the long hall. There was no one outside.

"Where do we need to go?" she whispered over her shoulder to Josef who was pushing the bed towards her.

"To the elevator," was the quiet answer.

Beth gaze roamed to one of the boards at the wall that had an arrow showing where they could find the elevators. She again breathed deeply and stepped into the hall opening the doors wide for all of them.

"To the right," she said as Josef was moving the bed forwards past her. She looked in the other direction and then rushed ahead of them again to open the next door for them.

They reached the elevators quickly and vanished into them equally quickly without drawing anybody's attention.

"Where are we going exactly?" Beth asked nervously when the elevator started to move.

"For now, up to the top," Josef responded with a small smile.

"So, we're flying again?" she concluded promptly and felt relieved when he nodded. That way was the safest and gentlest to transport a seriously injured person.

She jerked when suddenly Josef's phone started to ring and he grew paler than before when he answered the call.

"Yeah, where are they?" Now his face looked almost grey. "Then get out there. We'll do it on our own. Yes. See you." He ended the call and Beth looked at him, tense, as was his friend.

"Are they close?" he asked the question she didn't dare to ask.

"Yes," Josef replied gravely and threw a concerned glance at Mick. "They're on their way to the hospital. We've just a few minutes left. How is he?"

"Everything's all right," the doctor answered and Beth supposed his vampire senses were helping him to check Mick's vital signs without needing an instrument to do it.

The elevator opened its doors with a soft jingle and the fresh air gusting in took her breath away for a moment. Then they moved quickly across the flat roof of the hospital heading for a helicopter which was shining with an almost sacred splendour through the light of the slowly rising sun. This machine did not compare to the helicopter they had used the last time. It was considerably bigger and longer and a red cross was resplendent on its side. It radiated that thing they needed the most at the moment: rescue.

"So, it worked," Josef noted with a pleased smile towards his friend.

"That's an intensive care helicopter from my medical centre," Kendlroe explained and waved at a paramedic who climbed out of the helicopter at that moment and came rapidly toward them. "The guys owe me something," he added and greeted the man with a beaming smile.

"That's Paul," he introduced the paramedic who gave Beth and Josef a short nod and then relieved the doctor of the bag valve mask. "He'll help me on the flight if there are any complications."

Beth's stomach did a little flip at the thought and clenched her fists. That wasn't going to happen. They weren't allowed to even think of it, so everything would be all right.

Josef nodded briefly towards his friend and hurriedly moved the bed as close as possible to the opened back of the helicopter. Beth was holding her breath with a throbbing heart while the three men lifted Mick with a combined effort onto the lowered stretcher and then attached the medical appliances to it. Only when Kendlroe indicated Mick was doing well so far did she dare to exhale.

The rotors of the helicopter had just started to turn when Josef helped Beth to climb in and with a still racing heart she sat down on the side of Mick's stretcher where she wasn't in the way. For a moment she uneasily glanced around. The helicopter was loaded with medical appliances and instruments. There even was an ECG and a respirator which Dr. Kendlroe connected Mick to. He gave her an encouraging smile and then, like Josef, cast a concerned glance outside the window that unfortunately was outside Beth's range of vision. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and prayed that the men of the_ Legion_ weren't able to get to them in time.

Only when the helicopter began to soar into the sky did the fear inside her slowly abate. She saw Josef closing his eyes and taking in a deep, relieved breath. It did her good to see she wasn't the only one who was worried. She always felt so oversensitive and weak, but, for the most part, had held her ground well considering what she had been through recently.

A slight shaking went through the helicopter as they banked for a steeper turn and to Beth's amazement Mick suddenly moved his head.

"Is he waking up?" she turned to the doctor who instantly looked at the ECG. Its beeping now was in much shorter intervals. "I hope not," he replied tensely. But his hope burst when Mick's lids began to flutter.

"Fu…" The doctor stopped speaking and leaned over Mick so that he could press his arms onto the stretcher. Beth soon understood why, for although Mick actually possessed no strength his chest began to rise and a weird choking sound erupted from his throat. Pure fear was written in his glazed eyes.

"That's an air tube," the doctor uttered quickly, "it helps you to breathe! Stop fighting against it! Relax!"

But the man's words didn't reach him. Mick choked and gasped, his body convulsing, and his head tossing from one side to the other while the instruments around him started to shrill loudly.

"We need to sedate him again!" the paramedic called, alarmed, but the doctor shook his head vehemently.

"There's already too much of it in his body. He can't take anymore."

Beth's heart was beating like mad while she bent forward and reached out her hands for Mick's face. She succeeded with great difficulty in capturing his head and turning his face to her.

"Mick! Mick! Look at me!" she begged him with a steady voice and a miracle happened. His eyes locked with hers, seemed to understand her, and his resistance died instantly. A mix of confusion, deep longing and helplessness was shown in the dark blue of his eyes causing a wave of warmth and affection to wash over Beth's body. A tender smile appeared on her lips.

"That's right," she whispered. "We just want to help you. Don't fight against the tube in your throat. It helps you to breathe." She didn't know if he was able to comprehend the meaning of the words she was speaking, but the contact with her eyes and the touch of her hands seemed to soothe him.

"All will be well," she promised and lifted a hand to caress his forehead and his short soft hair. His lids got heavier and she felt as he started to relax.

"I'll look after you," she whispered and blinked away the annoying tears which had become her constant companion in the last days. She didn't really notice there were still other people in the helicopter, didn't notice that the doctor sat up slowly and Josef leaned backwards against the cool wall of the helicopter with a deep sigh of relief. For her, there was just Mick who needed her as urgently as she had once needed him. Her fingers tenderly traced the contours of his face, caressed his pale, warm skin until his eyes closed again and the ECG was beeping as regularly as before.

But even then she hovered over him. She wanted him to feel safe and secure, to feel she was there watching over his sleep, and without noticing it, she started to hum softly. She hummed the lullaby that had accompanied her for her whole life. It had given her so much comfort every time she had felt weak and wretched. Today she finally knew why, and she knew this time it was Mick who needed the feeling of security in the arms of a guardian angel who was bringing him home. Wherever _home_ was.

* * *

Inspired by Sarah McLachlan's_ Angel_. Love this song dearly and it fits so well...


	12. Dusk

_*__ Hi, there! Here I am anew like I promised. I thank you again so much for your feedback! It's again and again great to hear what you think about my story. I so need that. *Hugs the sedulous writers* Hope I am able to update in mid-week again. Till then, best wishes, Jenna*_

* * *

**Dusk**

* * *

"_**Endless is the world and yet its endlessness is disappearing towards the value**__** of a least, what a noble man is, about whose accrual or loss we forget all the stars."**_

_**August Pauly (1905) **_

* * *

_Actually I liked parties. Of course they needed to have class and just be open to chosen guests, but then they were mostly very amusing and showered us vampires with opportunities to follow our brutish cravings for sex and blood. Furthermore, they also entailed the possibility for me to establish new important contacts or to see again other influential vampires I had lost sight of for a while._

_The most parties I liked were of course my own, even if it was very exhausting to search for people who assumed the whole organization. At least I was able to make sure that everything was arranged and happened the way I liked it. But if you're forced to participate in too many parties a year, and your smile is yet painfully ingrown in your facial muscles, you also can grow tired of that kind of amusement very quickly._

_The summer party in my new bought house in Beverly Hills actually offered everything the heart of a rich vampire desired: beautiful women, great music, well-known faces and many possibilities to go somewhere for a few minutes for having a little snack or pursue other desires. I already got both over and done with and led the young redhead, who had offered herself to me so generously and whose name absolutely didn't want to come to my mind, back to her slightly confused boyfriend, when I saw_ her_. She was transcendentally beautiful the way she walked through the terrace door with that soft swinging of her hips, wearing a prohibiting tight-fitting dark blue dress and a flirtatious smile on her full red lips that made every men's heart beat faster. When her in contrast to her more ordinary companion bent down to her and whispered something into her ear, she threw her dark curls back and gave a high, clear laugh. While the other men in her range were staring at her fascinated, he seemed to be a bit confused about her reaction, appeared almost abashed. I examined him. Tall, athletic, dark hair, sleeked with too much styling gel and a very boyish, soft face. Actually he wasn't even a bit her type. _

_Her eyes were roaming obviously searching through the room and finally stopped – as expected – by my face. A radiant smile rushed over her pale face. She leant forward to her new acquisition, whispered something into his ear, and then came over to me together with him._

_I welcomed her with a smile and a short nod. "Coraline…"_

"_Josef," she responded with her velvet, always slightly bored sounding voice. "Allow me to introduce my young friend here to you…" She didn't really expect an answer and barely registered her companion was raising his brows, slightly annoyed about this appellation._

"_Mick St. John," she explained smiling and then looked at him. "Josef Kostan, the host and a good friend."_

_That was a bit overstated. I would have called our relationship neither as good nor as a friendship._

_We gave us the once-over, both smiling friendly but knowing subconsciously we didn't need to deepen this meeting. Yet, he politely offered me his hand and I took it and had to notice he had a surprising solid squeeze. It seemed as if he wasn't such a terrible wimp as I had presumed at first glance. From close up he also looked not that young and innocent anymore. He owned a quite masculine chin and a slightly ironic line around his lips._

"_Pleased to meet you," he lied and surprised me again with a deep, very masculine voice. I had expected something lighter and higher._

"_The pleasure is all mine," I outperformed him. "I hope you'll enjoy the party."_

"_For sure," he responded friendly and somehow I had the feeling that this again was a lie. Interesting – so he wasn't a friend of parties._

"_Mick is a musician," Coraline explained and I could sense how embarrassing it was for him to be showcased like that. But he smiled bravely and nodded approvingly._

"_Really?" I asked also smiling and grabbed a cocktail from the plate of a passing servant. "Should I know you?"_

_He quickly shook his head. "No, probably not. We… we enter just the stages of some little pubs or private parties. Nothing important."_

"_And with that you can keep your head above water?" I abandoned my astonishment and at the same time asked myself why Coraline's standards of the men's world had decreased so much._

_His smile became a tad too friendly. "The value of money is overestimated beyond all measure these days…"_

_I laughed. "I've heard that often," I admitted. "But I could never understand it."_

"_Of _that_ I'm sure!" he replied in a voice which showed clearly that he didn't think highly of people like me. _

"_Mick, I'm somehow thirsty," Coraline unfortunately interrupted our supremely interesting conversation and he turned to her with a mix of resistance and acquired politeness. _

"_Could you get me a drink?" she asked with a look that could sweep the strongest man off his feet and Mick had no option but to nod and set off._

_I watched him for a moment lost in thoughts. He was the first person since a long time who didn't try to kiss my ass to win my favor. Really interesting… and entertaining. _

"_Your new toy?" I asked Coraline without looking at her._

"_Um, I don't quite know," she responded with a little sigh. Now I had to look into her beautiful, dark brown eyes yet. _

"_What do you want from a puppy like that?" I asked bluntly. "Does he taste that well?"_

_She smiled mysteriously. "To be honest – I don't even know it."_

_I frowned really surprised. "He's none of your Freshies?"_

"_I didn't even taste a drop of his blood," she replied almost proudly. "Isn't that exciting? To sleep with him without biting him is the sweetest torture which is given on earth!"_

"_Are you feverish?" I probed into it, not really concerned. I had always doubted her sanity but that …_

"_Or is it just your usual lunacy?" I added without mincing matters. _

_She laughed and her perfect white teeth beamed at me thereby. "It's wonderful! I think I'm in love!"_

"_Yeah, for sure," I replied calmly. "And very soon you two will marry and have a house full of little vampire children."_

_She shot a very angry glance at me and lifted up her chin defiantly. "At least he had proposed to me yet."_

_My god, the poor bloke! Apparently, she had him on the leash much longer than I had suspected it and he was addicted to her like all the other fellows, she had driven insane._

"_Which you've hopefully defeated," I said. But instead of an answer she just gave me another stunning smile._

"_You're kidding!" I uttered now slightly indignant. _

"_Why should I?" she replied calmly. "I've now been alone for such a long time…"_

"_You want to turn him into a vampire?!" I could barely believe that. "Maybe you should first show him what you are! Besides – he has really not the makings of a vampire!"_

"_You don't even know him," she responded a bit stuck-up. "He's for sure able to rival with you…" A radiant smile washed over her face and I was instantly certain Coraline's 'fiancé' was approaching from somewhere. _

"_That… that's somehow weird," I could hear him say just before he was slipping through the gap between me and another guest. "Do you see that man over there…?" He pointed with one of the glasses he was carrying in his hands at a mutual friend of Coraline and me, who was instantly waving to us friendly. Of course a vampire… _

_Mick responded his greeting with a stilted smile and quickly turned to Coraline. "He looks exactly like your grandfather's friend I've recently seen on the old photo on your table," he whispered to her._

_I bit back a laugh and quickly winked at Coraline. "Really?" I asked Mick, playing interested. His brows contracted a bit annoyed due to this interest._

"_I don't think so," she replied smiling and took one of the glasses from his hand. _

"_Not?" He again threw a glance at the man. "I usually have a very well working memory when it's about faces…"_

"_But here you're wrong," she opposed and incidentally noticed a familiar face in the crowd, who was beaming at her._

"_Excuse me, there's someone I urgently have to talk with," she said softly. With that she let him alone with me. Apparently, she didn't think me being capable of just telling him everything – and exactly that was the reason why I really began to think about doing that. But I abandoned that thought quickly. It was much more fun to check out Coraline's new toy a bit. There had to be a reason why she wanted to turn that guy into a vampire._

"_And? How did you two meet?" I initiated the conversation after he had went on with studying our dear Edward for a while._

"_At a party," he answered absently but then turned to me. "My band and I had a little gig there… And wherefrom do _you_ two know each other?"_

"_Oh, that's a quite similar story," I replied and nipped at my drink, which I had totally forgotten for a while._

"_You've played in a band on one of her parties?" was the not really serious question and he skeptically raised one brow._

"_Nah, I owned the ship the band was playing on," I said off-handedly and Mick nodded understandingly while a frosty smile crept onto his lips. The expression in his eyes told me clearly he assumed me to be an arrogant, rich asshole. And in some way it roughly reached it…_

"_And when exactly did you two meet?" he asked nevertheless._

_About one hundred fifty years ago. Do you actually know your 'fiancé` had previously been a French courtesan?_

"_Oh, that's so long ago," I said slowly. "I can't really remember. Let's say we're very, very old friends."_

_Mick furrowed his brows pensively and a slight sparkling was flashing up in his blue eyes. It seemed as if he was one of the jealous kinds. That would certainly become difficult with a woman like Coraline. To her 'fidelity' and 'marriage' were just empty catchwords. But it looked as if he indeed wanted to have a little house with a garden, a loving wife and many little children. Things he could never have with her._

"_So, the two of you want to get married?" I asked and was able to really surprise him with that this time. _

"_Did… did she tell you?" he asked baffled and pointed with his thumb over his shoulder roughly into the direction where Coraline was basking in the attention of outright three men. To his luck my question was distracting him that much that he was overlooking that detail. _

"_Does it surprise you?" I enquired._

"_A bit…," he confessed hesitantly. "Most of all, 'cause she hasn't really given an answer to me yet."_

"_Oops-a-daisy! A blunder," I uttered less than convincing. "She just takes pleasure in letting other people dangle…"_

_Mick took a huge sip from his drink and then surprised me with a nod. "She does," he admitted slightly dejected and I almost felt sorry for him. "But she… she's so special…"_

_Yeah, of course. She's a bloodsucker and is going to ram her beautiful white teeth into your well-shaped neck very soon. Um, the thought really whet my appetite, although I had only just had a meal. One thing you'd got to hand to him: he smelled irresistibly good. Blood type A, without fail. Negative or positive? _

_My eyes clung a bit too long to his neck for he gave me a questioning look._

"_I just ponder what kind of shirt you're wearing," I explained smiling and pointedly examined the elegant, dark blue shirt. Tone-on-tone with his girlfriend. How cute…_

_Mick tugged at the silky fabric and then shrugged his shoulders irresolutely. "No idea. Coraline wanted me to wear this. She apparently was afraid I could wear a Hawaiian shirt." He laughed and I was really fascinated. There was nothing false, insincere in his behavior. He showed me who he was, without fearing to reveal too much of himself. And that although he didn't even like me. Something like that was very rare these days and furthermore very entertaining. _

"_I'm not able to afford things like that," he admitted smiling. "But… I don't need it either."_

"_What brings us back to the topic 'money'," I reminded him and he nodded a bit bored._

"_That seems to matter much to you," he noted._

"_Doesn't it to you as well?" I was really anxious to hear his answer. _

"_Yes, of course," he confessed openly. "But I think in my case it's more the lack of it and the sorrows which are closely related to it."_

"_So it has also a certain value for_ you_?" I came back to his comment at the beginning of our conversation._

_He nodded. "But there are a lot of things which are much more important."_

_I raised my brows. "Which ones?"_

_He thought for a moment. "Health,… friendship,… love…"_

_I shrugged my shoulders off-handedly. "I can also get that with money."_

"_No," he said firmly and gave me a smile that was almost as confident as mine. "Certainly not. True friendship and love can't be bought. You need to work hard for that."_

* * *

It was somehow weird. When I was thinking about the day Mick and I had met… no one would have ever thought we would be best friends one day. No one would have thought that Mick would become the most important person in my long life and one day I would be determined to give my eyeteeth to keep him alive. Now I was stuck here at an old farm-house somewhere in the nowhere and was at the end of my tether and my possibilities. I was ready to sacrifice everything I owned to save Mick. I would have given up all my wealth, my own immortality, would have chopped both my arms, but all that wouldn't have helped him. The way things were going, there was in fact nothing I could do for him.

The transport to our new 'natty' hiding-place had gone well and I had arranged everything so that our shelter was prepared for the admission of an intensive care patient. I had organized a brilliant doctor, all necessary medical instruments, medicaments, canned blood and of course a proper bed. And considering the serious time pressure weighting on me everything had looked quite perfect. With money you could perform true miracles.

For a while optimism had caught us all and we had been able to relax and to joke again – at least for a few hours. Then suddenly Mick's temperature had risen and his vital signs had crashed down that much that it had been necessary to stabilize his cardiovascular system again with medicaments and drip infusions. It had helped – anew just for a few hours then it had steadily gone downhill again, no matter what had medically been done for him.

That had exactly been the moment when August had tried to teach us gently that after all the hospital-doctor's prognosis was becoming real alas. Somewhere inside Mick's body microorganisms, brought in with the bullets, were spreading and led to acute infections. The antibiotics given to Mick couldn't stop these infections on their own. They were depending on the mechanisms in his body, which – owing to a lack of energy - didn't work proper anymore. His cardiovascular system was played out slowly but surely. The fight was nearly forlorn.

After this news Beth had started to cry again, but she hadn't broken down. She hadn't been willing to give up the hope that Mick would somehow make it. She still believed in the wonder we both were longing for so badly. But it allowed itself plenty of time. And so I was already sitting for hours next to Mick's bed, watching him die, helpless and so terribly desperate I hadn't felt in a long time. Beth had fallen asleep out of exhaustion in another armchair opposite to me and when I had entered the room I had covered her with a warm blanket. It was doing her good to finally sleep for a while, but I felt now somehow much more alone than ever before.

I rubbed my burning eyes and bent forward to Mick, propped myself with one hand on the edge of the bed and just looked at him, examining his haggard face with a choked throat. Almost on its own one of my hands was wandering to his head and lay down on his much too hot forehead. I had the feeling as if I could sense his life-energy streaming out of his limp body and as much as I wanted to – I couldn't hold it back.

"You really want to say goodbye, don't you?" I brought out very softly and swallowed heavily for tears began to fill my eyes. "There are a lot of people here who disagree with that, don't you know?"

It was weird, but somehow it felt good to talk to him, even if he probably wasn't able to even sense that I was at his side.

"Including me," I added as if this wasn't obvious. "But you've never cared about that." I uttered a sad laugh when I was thinking about the many situations, when Mick had just done what he had considered to be right – no matter if he had gotten disliked or had put himself into danger. When his temper had gotten the better of him he had been unstoppable…

"I just would like to…" My voice cracked and I lowered my head to take in a deep breath and master the big lump in my throat. "There's still so much we could do together, so much we could experience…" I watched his motionless face that was slowly becoming blurred. "And so much I want to tell you… But I don't even know if you can hear me. Or how you're feeling. Can't you tell me somehow if there's anything I can do for you?"

Of course there was no reaction. I hadn't really expected it, but somehow it was fuelling my pain and my desperation.

"What… what shall I do?" it came hoarsely out of my throat. "I … I want to help you so badly, Mick… but I don… I don't know how…" I exhaled haltingly and skimmed one hand over my face, brushed away the tears, before they could run down my cheeks.

"God, Mick, please tell me how…!" I gave off helplessly.

I was frightened when suddenly his lids moved and sat up abruptly. Mick hadn't been awake since his fit inside the helicopter and somehow it now scared me. He really opened his eyes faintly and looked at me – looked directly at me as if he was recognizing me. It was clearly difficult for him to stay awake. Again and again his lids tended to close but he opened them wide again, as if he urgently wanted to look at me. And suddenly I was dead certain he had heard me before and was trying to tell me something. But he couldn't. A tube was in his throat and probably he either wouldn't have had the strength to speak.

I bend forward to him again with my heart beating like mad. "What… what do you want to say, Mick?" I asked and deeply tried to read his facial expression.

He looked at me and then tiredly past me. I turned a bit and noticed the drip, which was supplying him with the needed transfusions.

"You don't want that any longer?" I guessed but he moved his head a bit aside implying a headshake. What then? My thoughts span over. The drip… the drip was supplying him with something… What else could it give off? Blood!

"Is it about blood, Mick?" it shot instantly out off me and my heart did a leap when the answer was a weak nod. Mick shut his eyes again.

"No, Mick, wait… Stay with me!" I laid a hand at his head and he opened his eyes anew. "Okay… blood… you need blood?"

No reaction. Now his strength didn't even suffice just for an indicated headshake… or a nod?

"Mick?" The despair in my voice couldn't miss to be heard and there… wasn't that a slight move to the side?

"You don't need it?" My thoughts were racing even quicker than my pulse. "Is it about _your_ blood?"

Yes! That was definitely a nod.

"Something's wrong with your blood…" That was no real new information. I could even smell it. Strangely there was always still a waft of vampire-smell attached to Mick's body though he was evidently a human.

"Is something in your blood that doesn't belong there?" I inquired feverishly. But Mick's lids fluttered again and then he closed them anew.

"Mick?" I searched for a sign that he would come around again but it failed to appear. That stingy information seemed to be all he had been able to give to me. But maybe it was enough. Fortunately I was blessed with a quick, sharp mind and it was able to draw conclusions at a tearing pace. I stood up and left the room, hurried to the living area of our hideout. August was sitting on the old sofa in the middle of the room and looked questioningly up from the paper he was reading.

"Did you already get the analyses of the last blood-test?" I asked straightforwardly and he looked at me frowning.

"Yeah, a short while ago," he responded and bent forward to his laptop he had placed onto the unsteady coffee table. He pressed a taste and the darkened screen became alive. "Like I guessed his data deteriorated sharply and…"

"It's not about that," I cut him short roughly and after a moment of hesitation – the couch looked really unsavory - sat down next to him. "Are there any conspicuous things?"

August raised his brows emphatically. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. I want to know if we've overlooked something," I explained tensed. "Something that's not that conspicuous but might have an effect on his state."

August nodded comprehendingly and then opened a file on his laptop he flipped through quickly. After just a few seconds he stopped short. "Yeah, here, wait… I must have missed it before in that whirl of excitement…"

"What?" I asked ruffled.

"A tiny touch of silver…," he explained and my heart did a painful leap against my ribcage. "No pure silver, more a mixture… weird…"

"That's it!" it burst out of me, but August shook his head.

"He's not a vampire, Josef," he opposed quickly. "In this quantity it doesn't damage to a human."

"Yes, but it could prevent that he can turn back into a vampire!" I was so dead certain that I was barely able to keep the joy out off my voice.

"What… what do you mean by that?" August asked confused.

"Mick's ex-wife Coraline had been able to turn herself back into a human with the help of the cure I told you about," I replied as calmly as I could in a situation like that. "When she got badly injured she automatically changed back into a vampire!"

Augusts' mind was working equally rapid like mine. "That means this cure had just suppressed the vampire in her and hadn't erased him," he concluded with wide eyes.

"Exactly!" I replied. "Let us assume Mick has received a similar cure and the vampire is somehow still inside of him…"

"… then he's maybe held by the silver in his blood from seizing Mick's body again!" August finished my sentence excited.

"It would explain everything – those strange self-regulating forces, his smell…"

I looked at him insistently but Augusts' enthusiasm seemed to slowly flow away the longer he was thinking about that all.

"And if not?" he pointed out.

"Will it do any harm if we get the silver out off his blood?" I asked back and to my disappointment he nodded.

"Yes, because there's just one way to do it," he said gravely. "With a dialyses."

I gave him an uncomprehending look.

"It's a blood-cleaning-procedure," August explained rapidly. "We would have to pump Mick's blood into a machine, in which it would get cleaned from all noxious substances and would then be led back into his body. You usually don't do that with seriously injured persons, 'cause it takes a heavy toll on the cardiovascular system."

I understood what he wanted to tell me, but we had no choice. "Can you get one of those machines?"

"Yes, but…" He looked at me quizzically. "Did you listen to me? If you're wrong, we'll kill him with that. His body won't recover from that…"

I clenched my teeth and took a deep breath. "Does he have a chance – a real chance to recover if we just wait?"

August let his gaze wander to his laptop which still showed the data of the blood test. Then he looked at me again and shook his head.

"Get the machine and prepare everything for the blood-cleaning," I said lowly, stood up and walked back to Mick's room. I urgently needed to talk with Beth.

* * *

There had been a chance, a tiny one, but it had been there. Unfortunately the hope it had brought along had been so much bigger and it was that hope that was bringing that pain along, that hollowing, deep pain besides that unbearable helplessness.

Beth didn't blame Josef for that. When he had told her about his idea, she had been certain they were really able to save Mick. All that had been so logical, had made such a sense… But sometimes things went different, sometimes people were wrong and sometimes the wonders just stayed away.

Mick was a human and he stayed a human, even after the cleaning of his blood. He was only a shadow of his former self and life was melting away beneath his powerless fingers with every breath the respirator was helping him to do, with every second that passed. Probably they had just shortened his anguish, probably he soon would have died anyway, but that wasn't a real comfort. Not to her and not to Josef, who was pacing up and down in front of Mick's bed for some time past now and was caught up in his own grief that was eating him up inside. Beth knew he was blaming himself, that he was asking himself again and again how he could have been so wrong. He could hardly bear to watch Mick die without being able to do something about it. She so wanted to help him, to comfort him, to tell him he had done right – but she couldn't. She wasn't strong enough for that. Her own grief and despair weighed her down so much that she wasn't able to even stand on her own feet for a long while. She was sitting huddled in the old armchair next to Mick's bed and was trying to bear the last minutes at his side with fortitude, again and again gently caressing his heated face, showing him that way how much she loved him.

She threw a long, worried glance at Josef, when he stopped once more in front of Mick's bed, looking at him pleadingly, begging him to make some movement, something that was showing that after all they somehow had been able to help him. But nothing happened, would never happen. Beth was sure about that. She was amazingly collected, when she addressed to Josef.

"You should take a break and drink some blood," she said gently. "You look terrible, Josef."

And she was right with that. Josef's face was ashy, the dark rings under his eyes looked like deep craters and his eyes were red-rimmed.

He shook his head, but she could sense his resist wasn't very strong. To leave this room – if only for ten minutes – would do him good and maybe give him the strength to realize they had lost their fight for Mick and their task was now just to enable him to take an easy, painless farewell.

"It'll still take a while," she added lowly and expected a protest, a revolt against the message hidden in that sentence. But that didn't happen. Instead of that Josef turned rapidly and walked out of the room.

Beth exhaled shakily, caressed again Mick's sweaty forehead and then carefully rose up. Her legs weren't as wobbly as they had been an hour ago, when it had become clear, that the dialyses hadn't helped Mick, but she felt still a bit weak-knead when she quietly walked to the window and looked out into the nearing dusk. It was really astonishing how fast time sometimes flew. She could barely imagine that they had found Mick just last night. It seemed to her as if it was an age ago. They had found him to lose him again. Once and for all.

A soft sob welled up from her throat and she buried her face in her hands, let her tears flow. Why? Why was life sometimes so cruel and so terribly unfair? She tried to breathe deeply, but it was so difficult, so awfully difficult, for the pressure onto her chest was so heavy. But then she stopped. She had heard a noise – a strange noise… from Mick's direction.

She flung around and froze for a moment. Mick wasn't lying mute and powerless on the bed any longer – he squirmed, lifted his upper body while he was bending back his head painfully and his fingers were digging into the mattress as if his body was tormented by a bad spasm. Thereby he uttered a choked, pained gargling that went right through her. Horrified she hurried to him when he just tilted sideward and grabbed his shoulder to turn him on his back again. Then suddenly everything happened very fast. His arm hit her with such a might that she was thrown backwards off the bed and knocked her head painfully at the armchair. For a moment everything around her went black and her head was spinning. But yet she realized that the cable of the ECG was ripped out of its connection, when Mick tossed and turned in bed and a clanging on the other side told her that also the drip had fallen to the ground. Her heart was pounding heavily when she tried to get to her feet again heavily swaying. God, she had to help Mick. He was suffering some kind of a fit… something horrible was happening to him…

A new wave of horror was grabbing her when she registered while rising up that Mick somehow had been able to seize the mouthpiece of the respirator and now pulled it out of his trachea with another pained, gargling sound. Then he laid still.

Full of fear Beth pulled herself up, clinging to the bed, plunged forward and finally reached out her hand for his doubled up shape. A surprised cry erupted from her as Mick threw himself aside uttering a brutish hissing and crashed to the ground. It shortly rumbled one more time and something hit the bedside lamp, which smashed on the ground. Then there fell silence – a frightening silence. The only light that was falling into the room now was the light of the setting sun.

Beth could hear her heartbeat in her aching head and the deep, short breaths she was taking, which sounded unnaturally loud in that silence. Her mind was screaming at her to call for somebody else. But her own natural fear was drowned by an incredible feeling of joy, for one thought emerged from her befogged mind more and more clearly: Mick was suddenly anything else but a human in a dying condition. 'Human' was here probably not even the right word any longer. Good God! Josef had been right! The joy overturned into euphoria.

"Mick?" she uttered softly, for her eyes had slowly started to adapt to the dark and she thought to pick up his shape, which had hunched up trembling into the corner next to his bed. She crawled a bit forward onto the bed.

"Mick?" she asked again and her voice was almost cracking with excitement.

Very slowly he moved his head into her direction; very slowly he lifted his gaze and captured her shape. His posture changed. He turned to her, tilted his head and stared at her with his cold, white-blue eyes and a gaze that made her blood run cold. And all of a sudden Beth realized that in front of her ready for leaping wasn't Mick, who was squatting in the corner, but a beast in whose now almost glowing eyes above all just one thing was shown: The lethal voracity for human blood.


	13. Miracles

_*I'm so sorry I didn't manage to post earlier. But I just was too busy. But now I'm here and have a new (warning again: not beta read) chapter for you. I hope you like it as much as the other ones and I will try to post the next chapter within a week. Up till then I wish you a merry, merry Christmas, yours, __Jenna*_

_P.S. I thank you so much for your feedback. It's always so great to hear what you think about my story and very motivating!_

_P.P.S. And much thanks to Moonlightie, who translated the first half of the chapter! Feel hugged!_

_Edit: Jo, you're unbelievable! Thank you so much for that 'like lightning' beta work! You're just amazing!  
_

* * *

**Wonders **

Two completely opposite thoughts shot through Beth's mind at the same time: 'Run for your life' and 'Give him what he needs until he's better'. Self preservation versus solicitude. Mick made the decision for her the moment he shot out of his corner with exposed fangs with a strength she wouldn't have considered possible in his condition. Her instinct to flee was stronger than any other feeling and she threw around the bed like lightning.

But 'like lightning' wasn't fast enough. She let out a panicked cry when he grabbed her and threw her on her back. In a knee-jerk reaction she pushed her hands against his chest.

His teeth snatched at nothing, yet close enough to her carotid that she threw her head backward in a panic. An impatient growl came out of his throat and was answered by a loud, furious snarl from a completely different direction.

Nevertheless, Mick's head shot down to her and the pressure against Beth's hands was so great that she couldn't hold him off any longer. Her arms gave way and for a moment she felt his panting breath and the tips of his fangs on her skin. Then suddenly he was pulled back and pushed down on his back as Josef, seemingly appearing out of thin air, launched himself on Mick, trying to catch his arms. Beth turned quickly and with a wildly beating heart moved herself away from Mick who fought with Josef with all his strength.

"Mick! Mick! Wake up!" Josef yelled wildly and the next moment he screamed with pain for his friend had clamped his teeth into Josef's forearm causing a deep, bleeding wound. Josef flinched, shocked, and the beast in Mick almost managed to escape. He turned sideways and reached out his arm for Beth, missing her leg by only inches. This time she didn't flinch. She just stared at him with wide eyes and a frantically beating heart not knowing what to do. She hadn't missed the painful hunger in his eyes, the misery and despair. Mick had never behaved like this before and she was certain that he would have killed her if Josef hadn't come when he did. Josef was above Mick again trying to hold him without getting himself hurt once more. Mick was totally out of control. He bit and lashed out and didn't seem to notice that he was surrounded by friends who only wanted to help him. He was like a wild animal that was almost insane with hunger and his fear of death helped him mobilize all his remaining strength to reach his goal. And, of course, he was right, he needed blood to regenerate. He was the only one who knew exactly what was happening inside his body. The only one who knew how much time he had left, what he needed and _when_ he needed it. Josef, who finally had Mick under control was holding him down with both arms and looking worriedly at him, while Mick lusted after Beth, fangs exposed, breathing heavily. She was shocked to see that the whites of his eyes had changed to an intense yellow. No one needed to tell her that this was an alarming sign and the concern in Josef's eyes grew with every passing second. Beth couldn't help herself. She crawled back to him and almost instantly Mick began to struggle against Josef's tight grip once more, trying to escape, to finally get to his nourishment.

"Beth, stay where you are!" Josef snapped at her and his harsh tone made her stop.

At that moment Kendlroe flew into the room, clad only in trousers and an open shirt. Apparently, he'd been taking a nap in one of the freezers in the basement. But somehow he had noticed the tumult in the upper rooms. He couldn't believe his eyes at the sight he saw.

"We need blood!" Josef shouted. "Fast!! As much as you can carry!"

Kendlroe disappeared immediately without asking further questions and Beth slid closer to them, rolling up a sleeve under Mick's feverish gaze.

"Are you insane?" Josef snapped at her once more and had great difficulty in trying to hold Mick down. "He'll kill you! He's totally famished!"

"Then you have to keep an eye on us," she countered, and before he could do anything about it, she had held out her arm. Mick's head shot forward and his teeth pierced her skin as if it was thin paper and pushed deeply into her flesh and into her heavily pulsating vein. It was painful, really painful, and so completely different from his bite during their night of love. Mick was sucking her blood with such greed that she was becoming frightened. She'd once saved his life with her blood in the desert. But at that time he hadn't been as haggard and thirsty as he was now. But there was no other way. He needed it, needed her blood to heal his body, to finally get better. That was the only thing that counted this moment. Josef seemingly thought the same thing, because he didn't interfere but waited with a strained expression, not once taking his eyes off Mick and her. And somehow his presence was calming her, making it possible to relax a bit, so that the numbing secretion that came through his bite into her bloodstream could take effect. Very slowly her head started to swim, her limbs went numb and her body began to shiver.

"Okay, that's enough," she heard Josef say after a while, but she just shook her head. She could still feel Mick's hunger, sensed that he needed much more blood. But Josef couldn't let that happen. He grabbed her arm and pushed Mick back, his fangs automatically retracting from her arm, although he struggled to stay there. Despite the blood his strength still hadn't returned. On the contrary, he acted even more beaten and tired than before. Even Beth noticed despite her tired state.

"He needs more," she exclaimed and lifted her arm, but Josef only pushed her back annoyed.

"You've donated more than enough blood in the last 24 hours," he stated. "If you go on like this you're the next one I will be taking to the hospital."

Only now, Beth registered that Kendlroe had returned with a few blood bags. He filled a syringe which he injected into Mick's arm quickly. A furious hiss crossed Mick's lips and he tried to pull his arm away. But he didn't have enough strength to fight against two vampires. Josef studied his face carefully.

"Something's wrong," he mumbled, closing his eyes briefly, concentrating on something that was escaping Beth's senses. She didn't know exactly what he was trying to determine, but the glance he exchanged with Kendlroe caused her stomach do small flips.

"That's impossible!" Josef blurted out unbelievingly, and his eyes widened as Mick's eyes suddenly closed and his head slumped sideways.

"Mick!" he called, agitated, taking Mick's face between his hands, patting his cheeks, shaking him. "Mick! Stay with us! Don't do that!"

Mick opened his eyes again, but they weren't as bright as they had been before. Kendlroe filled another syringe hastily and fed him more blood, but it didn't help. Once again their friend's eyes closed and this time all the tension seemed to leave his body. Beth noticed that she and Josef held their breaths at almost the same time, because for just a moment Mick lay totally motionless. Too motionless. But then his chest rose again and he started to breathe, fast and flat. Beth looked, confused, from Mick to Josef and saw that Josef sat there, frozen. He looked at Mick with shock and deep confusion. Dr. Kendlroe looked the same way and Beth was completely lost.

"This ... this ... cannot ...," Josef gulped, "... cannot happen. That's impossible ..."

He got up, ran his fingers through his hair and walked a few steps away from Mick, only to turn back to him even faster, gazing at him distraughtly.

Beth slid back to Mick without being stopped by anyone and touched his cheek. She almost fell backwards, frightened. His cheek was warm, too warm for a vampire. How could this be?

She searched Josef's face, but he was unresponsive. He had raised both hands to his mouth and stroked his forefingers almost roughly over the bridge of his nose while his eyes wandered doubtingly over Mick's body again and again. Beth noticed a movement next to her while her own thoughts were doing somersaults. The doctor awoke from his stiffness and bent over Mick. He appeared tense as his fingers carefully lifted Mick's shirt as far as possible so he could have a look at the band-aid-covered surgical scars. Two of them were soaked with fresh blood. Beth gulped heavily when the doctor turned towards one of the wounds and carefully removed the tape the doctors at the hospital had applied to it. She couldn't contain herself any longer.

"Is he ... is he a ...," she started but couldn't finish as this thought was absurd.

"Human again. Yes," Kendlroe took the words out of her mouth and her heart stopped for a moment. "This isn't possible," he added as he pulled the tape off. The scar looked amazingly good. Against all expectations it was fully intact and had started to heal. To heal? After less than 24 hours?

Kendlroe shook his head, intrigued, and then looked over to Josef who, unnoticed by Beth, had approached them. He was finding it difficult to believe what was revealed to them.

"You see this?" his friend asked, lifting the bloody compress. "That's still damp! But the incision is already half healed. Here you can see it!" He pointed to a subtle line that ran along the scar.

"Then it was enough?" Josef finally asked.

"I can't say that that for sure," the doctor said, reaching behind him to get the stethoscope that was lying on the nightstand. "But for now he's breathing on his own and he seems to be relatively stable, which is more than we could say earlier."

He started to listen to Mick's heartbeat and then nodded. "It still doesn't sound optimal but at any rate better than before. He still has a light fever which means that the infections aren't completely gone yet."

"But he won't die," Josef stated, looking hopefully at his friend.

"At the moment it doesn't look like that way. No."

Beth's heart took a little leap. She placed a hand on her chest, exhaling a deep sigh of relief as Josef once again ran his fingers through his hair, also exhaling deeply.

"And what does all of this mean?" Beth addressed the doctor with huge eyes.

Kendlroe frowned, trying to find a way to put his thoughts into words a layman would understand.

"By the look of it, our friend here is both a vampire _and_ a human," he explained as calmly as possible and Josef snorted disbelievingly.

"What's hardly possible," Kendlroe added.

"Why?" Beth wanted to know.

"Because the metabolisms of vampires and humans aren't compatible," Kendlroe explained patiently while he removed the remaining band-aids from Mick's heaving chest.

"There's only 'either – or'. The vampire will always kill the human. There are substances and hormones in the blood of a vampire that cause enormous changes in the cell structure and metabolism of a human. We call that 'turning' but for all intents and purposes it's more like a fatal disease." Josef uttered a disapproving grumble. "The virus actually doesn't kill you but it causes irreparable damage to your body. In most cases the individual stays viable but has to get accustomed to the new body and the linked behaviors. In the first weeks that's extremely difficult and there are cases where the affected people died because their bodies couldn't manage the changes. Until now it's not been possible to reverse this process."

As her awareness grew, Beth was having a difficult time trying to fully understand his explanations and to process what he was telling her, but at his last words she started to listen attentively. "Does this mean there were always vampires who wanted that? To turn back into humans, I mean."

"More or less," Kendlroe admitted begrudgingly. He, too, seemed to be one of those vampires who felt comfortable with his fate. "Being a vampire has advantages that most of us don't want to lose. But interest in combining both the advantages of the human existence and the advantages of the vampire life has always been present."

"Apparently freaks exist everywhere," Josef snarled and with a sigh settled down on the foot of the bed. Again his gaze wandered across Mick's form and for a moment he gave the impression of a worried father at the bed of his sick child.

"When Josef told me about this cure that supposedly could turn a vampire back into a human I was shocked and at the same time incredibly curious," Kendlroe went on. "I couldn't believe it and wanted to see it desperately, but he wasn't able to get me a sample of it."

"You told him about it?" Beth cast a look of astonishment at Josef. "I thought you didn't want anything to do with it."

"I was worried, okay?" Josef quickly defended himself. "Mick grabbed at it, as if it was his salvation, without having it analyzed and before making sure it wouldn't kill him. Typical Mick! I wanted to prevent any possible danger or side effects."

"I didn't want to believe it anyway," Kendlroe interjected. "Until I saw Mick yesterday, and now this." Once again his gaze wandered across Mick's body, stunned. "To believe that there is a cure that temporarily can turn a vampire back into a human was almost impossible to believe. But this ..."

"Is something completely different," Josef added quietly and thoughtfully. He didn't seem to be exactly thrilled about this wonder. In fact, it seemed to frighten him and to heighten his worry about Mick. He bit onto his lower lip tensely and his posture radiated a tentativeness that was totally atypical for a person of his standing. Beth was genuinely irritated.

"Why is this so different?" she asked bluntly.

"Because it looks like ...," Kendlroe stopped, trying to sort his thoughts, but Josef came to his rescue. "... he's able to alternate between these two states?"

"Yes," Kendlroe uttered, sounding impressed. "And I don't understand how this works."

For a moment there was a deep, thoughtful silence among them. Sometimes wonders were hard to understand, especially when they came unexpectedly. Beth gazed at Mick's narrow face, the deep rings under his eyes, his chapped lips and a feeling of misgiving sneaked into her sub conscious. Even if it was a wonder, he clearly wasn't well. If everything worked as it should, why was he just skin and bones?

"And if it doesn't work?" she finally vocalized the fears that spread through her. Both men looked at her alarmed. Apparently Kendlroe hadn't thought about this in his excitement about this discovery, whereas Josef seemed to feel vindicated for his grim thoughts. For a moment he looked so unhappy that she hesitated to keep on talking. But this needed to be said, the subject needed to be raised.

"I mean, he doesn't look well, does he?" she went on with discomfort and turned directly to the doctor with her worries. "In fact, we don't know at which point within the research we've rescued him. Maybe he's still in a developmental stage, one in which he needs totally different medical help."

"That's indeed possible," Kendlroe acknowledged, "but right now it looks as if he is recovering slowly. So, I think he somehow is able to cope with both his sides. At least I hope so."

"We should still watch him closely," Josef stated. "And we need to stock up on blood. Who knows when he'll turn back into a vampire again. Logan wanted to come here soon. I'll tell him that he should bring some blood along."

Beth's eyes wandered back to Mick, letting them glide across his lips and almost immediately she felt a nasty tingle in her still hurting wrist. Even if she would willingly give him her blood again, she didn't feel good about this idea.

* * *

It was weird how you started to see things through different eyes once you got into situation where you were depending upon others. Suddenly blood tasted a whole lot better, was so much more precious and pure because it had saved Mick's life, even this prepackaged, stored, average O positive which I had recently poured into a glass and savored in my mouth.

For the first time in hours I could relax a bit and feed my own hunger. To watch Mick feeding on Beth had been pure torment, all the more because she had such a rare and delicious blood type. Under normal circumstances I would take great pleasure in watching this rare event in Mick's life, however, I had always had a supply of fresh blood and hadn't been forced to drink packaged blood.

But I had endured it, because this blood had given my friend a chance to live or at least to keep on fighting. A rather queasy feeling deep inside me told me that not all threats had been overcome, not all fears had been borne by a long shot. Too much was unclear and mysterious. We lacked too much information to really be able to plan the next steps for Mick. If indeed something surprising happened, we would have to improvise again and pray that good luck would stay with us. And I hated not being in control.

I sensed that August came from the corridor into the kitchen-living room before I could see him from the corner of my eye and I turned to him, frowning.

"You will not leave her alone with him," I reminded him and he raised his hands in a calming gesture.

"He's fine at the moment," he stated quickly. "His pulse is a bit too fast and his temperature too high, but I don't think that it's enough to let him vamp out again."

I nodded. So, it had occurred to August as well that the vampire in Mick returned the moment when the human was too weak to keep them both alive. But as long as the human was able to handle everything, more or less, the vampire remained silent. The question now was: why?

"Nevertheless, we urgently have to talk about everything," August added and looked at me seriously. "Time presses."

"I know," I said silently and took a deep breath to prepare myself for the probably not so good news.

August approached the fridge and took a bag of O positive from it. The blood was free for all who helped us.

"The little one is right," he started while he poured the blood into a glass from the old wall cupboard above him. "We must not get our hopes up regarding Mick's state. I don't like to admit it, but I really have no idea how they did what they did and, what's even worse, what state they've reached or what are the possible side effects. Those quick changes between the human and the vampire metabolism can't be healthy in the long term. Sooner or later his body will react to what's happening in some unforeseen way."

"The documents I gave you weren't helpful in any way?" I asked frustrated.

"Not really," August admitted and took a huge gulp of blood. "The documents were briefly and illegibly drawn for a reason. A few things I was able to understand, but many things remain hidden to me. And of all things, Mick's file has five pages missing."

I clenched my teeth so hard that a quiet crunch was audible. "Peterson," I growled and my hate for this man began to grow again.

"He's the one I need," August admitted and after a short moment I realized that he wasn't joking.

"Alive?" I asked hopefully.

"Dead he's useless to us and most of all to Mick," was the sad answer. "He's the only one who can explain to us what is wrong with Mick and how to treat him. At the moment I don't even know if his fever is normal or if the vampire in him needs blood again. I just know that his temperature isn't all right. Without knowledge I'm not going to be a big help!"

I looked blankly into the deep red of the blood in my glass and all of a sudden didn't feel well. Of course I had made sure that Logan and the others had gone on with their search for Peterson but I hadn't been aware of how pressing time had become concerning that search . My main concern for the search for that man had been the thought of revenge and now the search took on a totally different, much more important dimension. Peterson had known we would need him. 'You're making mistake,' he had said now it dawned on me what he had meant. It made me terribly angry for I knew I had to wait on my revenge for a while longer.

"I need him, as soon as possible!" August emphasized once more and I felt my rage now turn to him.

"And how am I supposed to do that?!" I grunted. "Do you think Peterson calls me himself and tells me where he is?"

"No, but through the window of Mick's room I noticed Logan arriving just a few minutes ago," he explained still calmly, although I could feel he was annoyed by my behavior. "Maybe you can hurry him up a bit and get him to concentrate on the search for Peterson."

"I was going to do that anyway," I replied irritably as I heard Logan coming up the stairway from the basement, where he was making himself at home. "But you may as well tell him yourself."

Logan didn't seem to notice that we both were watching him when he entered the kitchen and he didn't even bother to greet August. He had already annoyed me upon his arrival with his wailing about this 'shed that called itself a farm'. So much so that I had stuffed a one hundred dollar note into his greedy fingers just so he'd shut up for while and go back down into the cellar. Apparently the payment was sufficient for just half an hour and the 'stay away from me as long as possible' was forgotten already. Instead he ripped open the refrigerator moodily and snooped around in the blood bags. He gave me an indignant glance when I wordlessly took a bag of AB negative from his hand and replaced it with a bag of O positive.

"Avarice is not a virtue," he griped and ignored my threatening gaze by just shrugging his shoulders and simply biting into the package. I shook my head inwardly. Behavior and style seemingly were terms which didn't matter in Logan's life.

"Man, _those_ were two bad days!" he finally sighed when he had satisfied his thirst and looked at me and August. "Chaos without end, really."

"Have you arranged everything?" I asked impatiently to keep him from starting to wail again.

Logan sighed like a maltreated giant baby. "Yeah, boss, mostly but I don't know if the generator here has enough power to provide adequately for all the appliances. " And as if to underscore his words, the light of the lamp above us started to frantically flicker. I really disliked admitting it, but the thought frightened me a bit. The freezers were driven with the same generator.

"Is there some way to help it out a bit?" I instantly probed.

"Do I look like an electrician?" was the indignant answer.

"You certainly know one," I said firmly. "Call him and get him here! Now!"

One problem after another. How could everything happen at once? But at least Logan reacted immediately and reached for his cellphone. Again the light flickered and I grabbed Logan's arm. "Turn that off!" I said quickly, looking at the edgy kitchen lamp, concerned. "Go down and switch off all your appliances."

The thought was good and right but it came too late. The light jerked once more then plunged us into darkness.

"I guess it's settled now," was Logan's witty comment and I poked my elbow in his ribs with all my might. He uttered a cry of pain but didn't dare to complain for the situation was too serious.

"Well, then you must call your friend right now," I commanded and Logan obeyed without any muttering. "We absolutely need our freezers! Can Mick get along without the medical equipment?" My gaze searched August eyes and he nodded, to my relief.

"That's not a problem at the moment," he said. "But it should be repaired as quickly as possible!"

"Josef?" That was Beth's concerned voice echoing from the corridor. For her this was probably much more frightening. In contrast to we vampires she could see much less in the darkness.

"I'm here," I called to her and went to meet her, followed by August. "It's just a power outage."

"Is it bad?" She groped her way through the corridor and stopped when she was able to see our silhouettes in the moonlight which was coming from one of the other rooms into the hall.

"I think we can sort it out very soon," I told her with more optimism than I felt. But she wasn't really listening to me. She clasped her hands tensely.

"You won't believe it," she said, after breathing in deeply a few times. "Diana just called me."

"The student?" I asked and she nodded shortly. "It's about Peterson and Mick. She has information which is extremely important."

"And she couldn't tell you on the phone, what it is about?" I probed suspiciously.

"No, I, I think she was terribly afraid," Beth replied sounding worried. "She sounded so tense, said I mustn't tell anybody else about it and ended the call right after she told me the meeting place. She didn't even wait for my answer."

"It's a trap," August voiced the thought that was burning in my mind as well. "I think the _Legion_ is behind the call."

I crossed my arms over my chest and for a moment stared at the dirty carpet beneath my feet. Then I searched Beth gaze. "She said she has information about Peterson _and_ Mick?"

She nodded. "In fact, she said very, very important information. If I want to know what has happened to him I would need to meet her."

I scratched my temple lost in thought and then shook my head. "That's not the _Legion_," I declared with real certainty. "They know full well that Mick's with us and wouldn't try to trap us with such a pretense. There has to be someone behind it who doesn't know for sure what has happened to Mick during the battle or if he's still alive. Someone who hasn't seen you and because of that doesn't know you're working with us."

"Peterson," it burst out of Beth. "Of course! That would also explain why she was so tense. If he came to her and told her that somebody is attempting to take his life, she would be totally scared."

"With good reason," I replied. "The _Legion_ has got its eyes and ears everywhere. And the groups which were at the university can only mean that there's a leak somewhere in Diana's environment. After all, she was the one who told us about the closed wing."

Beth's eyes immediately got wider. "Oh, my god! Then she's in great danger!"

"Not as long as she's doing what Peterson tells her to do."

"Does it mean _he_ wants to meet me?" a surprised Beth asked.

"It's possible," I answered and that thought alone caused an enormous boost of adrenalin to rush through my veins. "Maybe he hopes you can help him somehow. Whatever, we need to go there in any case!"

"We?" Beth repeated frowning.

"Do you really think I'd let you go on your own?" I asked indignantly.

"No, I…" She threw a glance over her shoulder in the direction where Mick's room was and I understood what this was about. "I actually thought you could go instead of me."

I looked at her sternly and shook my head. "Under no circumstances do you stay here. Since I don't know when Mick will turn back in that uncontrollable…" I stopped for there was a word spinning in my mind which I definitely didn't want to use precisely because Mick had referred to his vampire side so often that way. I refused to see vampires like that, no matter how rabid my friend had acted earlier.

"But maybe he will need my blood again," she put up some resistance and the sound of her voice told me that she was really afraid to leave him here alone.

"We have a whole refrigerator full of stored blood," I replied as calmly as possible and, as if the universe was on my side this time, at that very moment the generator awoke again and the lamps shown a friendly light on us once again. "Even a working fridge," I added with a crooked smile. "He needs blood but it doesn't need it to be your blood. And August will stay with him."

My friend nodded confirming. "At the moment Mick's condition is steady," he calmed her and I was quite sure that he had withheld a 'more or less'. But I appreciated it for after a few seconds of thinking Beth finally nodded reluctantly. "But we have to be fast," she said seriously and also got a nod for an answer.

"We're going to fly again," I added and, like so often in my life, I was really glad to be well-off enough to afford a helicopter. Because Beth was right. We did in fact need to hurry before Mick got out of control again and our improvised efforts caused difficulties we couldn't solve.


	14. Dr Frankenstein

_*__Hi there! Now the next chapter is translated and beta read (thanks a lot to Jo – you're just great!) and ready to be read by you! Pink Punkette, SamBrody and Moonjat54, I thank you so much for your reviews. You made my day again and again. I so need that kind of support. Feel hugged!*_

* * *

**Dr. Frankenstein**

* * *

„_An abominable deed doesn't torture us when we've just committed it but only much later, when you're thinking back - for the memory of it never dies."_

_(Jean-Jaques Rousseau, 1712-1778)_

* * *

Beth felt anything but comfortable while heading down the stairs to the subway station. As strange as it seems, being in the solitude of the small farm in Baja, California, with all those vampires, had made her feel much safer and more comfortable than here in a major city like L.A. Here she was surrounded by people she didn't know who were so busy with their own lives that they didn't notice her in their hustle and bustle. The experiences of the last days had made Beth more fearful and cautious. Because she was aware that she would soon meet a man being searched for by a dangerous secret organization, every person who looked at her a bit too long or did something conspicuous suddenly looked queer to her. Knowing that Josef walked behind her at a distance was the only reason that kept her from changing her mind. Her wish to turn and head back to Mick who needed her badly grew with every passing second.

Diana, or maybe Peterson, had chosen their meeting place well. Even at this late hour the metro station was busy and security cameras were everywhere. The Security Service or the police would know very quickly if something were to happen. Covert actions were all but impossible even for the _Legion_ and they definitely didn't want any publicity.

Beth cast a last glance over her shoulder to assure herself that Josef was still following her. She slowly walked along the track, peering at everyone she passed. She had never seen Peterson face to face and wasn't sure she would recognize him. But then she remembered, her appointment was actually with Diana. Perhaps it would be better to look for her.

An unseasonably cold wind blew through the rail tunnel like a bad omen and caused Beth to shiver. She pulled her thin jacket closer around her body and stopped. She spotted a young woman with dark, shoulder-length hair at the other end of the track who was glancing cautiously at her time and again. Beth was almost certain that this was Diana and quickened her steps. To her disappointment, she noticed the student was alone. Maybe Josef had been wrong about his assumption.

Diana was pale and appeared totally different from their first meeting. Her big brown eyes were fearfully searching her environment for sources of danger and Beth prayed that Josef was ingenious enough to not catch her eye. If they wanted to find Peterson they couldn't afford to scare Diana off.

"Thank God!" Diana uttered, relieved, when Beth was near enough to not be overheard by anyone else. "I was afraid you wouldn't come."

"What's happened?" Beth asked as if she didn't know what this was about.

Diana's glance flew over the shapes of the other people in the station. Then she stepped closer to Beth so that they were able to talk in whispers.

"Frank Peterson appeared at my place," she whispered to Beth who tried to look surprised. "He… he was totally distraught and," She faltered and moved away to cast a glance down the track. "He told me he had been abducted by a secret organization that had forced him to conduct cruel experiments on humans. He has narrowly escaped and is now on the run. God, Miss Turner, that's all so awful." She inhaled shakily and made an effort to get her feelings under control. "Frank said Brian is in cahoots with these people."

Beth eyes widened. "_Your_ Brian? Your fiancé?"

Diana nodded bravely, despite the tears in her eyes. "I don't want to believe it. But I promised Frank I wouldn't say anything to Brian as long as Frank's still in L.A."

"But why _is_ he still here?" Beth asked, confused. "Why didn't he try to leave?"

A much stronger wind gust from the tunnel announced the arrival of the next metro and they could hear the typical sounds of the wheels on the rails.

Diana grew visibly more uneasy. She threw a glance at her wristwatch without giving any sign she had heard Beth's question.

"Diana?" Beth bent a bit forward to try to catch the young woman's eyes as the train was entering the station, brakes shrieking.

"We need to go now," Diana said tensely as she linked arms with Beth. Her grip was surprisingly strong as she pulled Beth to one of the open doors of the metro car. Beth was so startled that she didn't struggle. Just as they entered the train compartment she was able to get a quick glimpse of Josef's dark shape, which disappeared immediately, and with admirable elegance, into the neighboring compartment.

Beth couldn't stop her heart from beating a bit faster as Diana pushed her into the rearmost corner of the relatively empty compartment and down onto the bench, sitting down herself. Slowly, but surely, Beth began to get angry. She wasn't a doll for Diana to move around as she wished.

"Diana," she said in a distinctly angry voice, "tell me this instant what all this fuss is about or I'll get off at the next station!"

To her surprise, the young woman nodded willingly. "Frank wants to see you. _You_ are the reason why he's still in L.A."

Beth was speechless for a long moment. She blinked a few times, totally bewildered. "_I_ am the reason?" she finally repeated unbelievingly. "He doesn't even know me!"

"I thought that, too," Diana responded. "But when I mentioned to him that you'd contacted me, he almost freaked out with joy. He said he's been searching for a while for some way to talk to you and that this would make everything much easier."

"_What_ will be easier?" said a frightened Beth. It wasn't a good feeling to know that _Dr. Frankenstein_ was searching for her and was so very anxious to meet her.

"I don't really know," Diana confessed and looked at her almost apologetically. "But I think, for the most part, it's about your friend Mick St. John."

"Really?" Beth was more than skeptical, but Diana nodded.

"You can ask him yourself in a moment," she added with an encouraging smile. "He'll get on at the next station but I'll have to leave as he doesn't want us to be seen together."

Beth shivered. "Wait! _Wait_! You just want to leave me alone with a man I don't know. A man who's involved in something obscure which might get me killed?! You must be kidding!"

Instead of trying to calm Beth down, the young woman jumped up suddenly and walked to the door as if Beth ceased to exist.

"Diana!" Beth called, enraged, and followed her. "What the hell is going on with you?!"

The student didn't look at her, but answered her question. "I don't want to be involved anymore," she said softly. Her voice was shaky and Beth was afraid she would burst into tears at any moment. Diana turned her head a bit and the fear in her eyes spoke volumes.

"All I wanted was to study medicine and to work in the medical research field someday. The things that happened to Peterson, the things he told me about," she swallowed hard, "I don't want to have any part in. I just want to forget all of it. Please, let me go so I can go back to my normal life. He promised that if I did this one favor I could leave."

For a moment Diana looked like a little girl who had been terribly scared by some horror stories. Beth's anger faded as quickly as it had begun. The young woman was a bundle of nerves, and sooner or later, she would have a nervous breakdown if she couldn't free herself from the pressure and fear that was weighing on her. Not every woman was as strong as she was, Beth had noticed many times before. So she nodded mutely, and because she didn't know what to say, turned her back to Diana and went back to her seat. Before sitting down she glanced over to the other compartment and saw with relief that Josef was sitting on a seat next to the transition doors between the compartments. Although he was still wearing his sunglasses and pretending to read a daily paper, she knew he was watching her attentively.

Beth had to take a step and quickly grab onto one of the poles in order to not lose her balance as the train started to brake. Her heart beat with a much faster rhythm as the first meeting with Peterson drew closer. Along with it came the strong feeling that she was running a really big risk and possibly getting into a life-threatening situation again. But she couldn't and didn't want to retreat. They needed that strange man no matter what he wanted from her.

'Think about Mick! Think about Mick!' she told herself over and over while the metro was entering the next station and came to a stop. Diana gave her a last apologetic glance and swiftly left the compartment after the doors opened with a threatening hiss.

Exactly two people stepped in and none of them looked familiar to Beth. It was a young couple that moved off into the next corner of the compartment. They took their seats and started openly making out.

A loud hoot announced the closing of the doors and Beth took a deep, relieved breath. Suddenly another man, heavily loaded with a huge backpack and a bulging travelling bag, jumped into the compartment at the very last moment. It was quite a stupendous performance for a man of his age, for his hair was gray and his skin had lost a lot of its flexibility over the course of the passing years. But the vivid sparkling in his dark eyes attested to an alert mind and an energy few people of his age owned.

Beth wasn't surprised when, after he saw her, he instantly walked towards her. He looked a bit different than she remembered from the photos. He wasn't wearing glasses and had cut his hair but her memory for faces didn't fail her: This was clearly Peterson. Except he appeared to be not nearly as crazy and unlikeable as she had expected. The smile he gave her was warm and friendly and his eyes radiated nothing dishonest.

"Miss Turner?" he addressed her carefully as the train started to move again and respectfully sat down on the bench across from her.

She nodded, non-committal, and didn't say anything. She wanted to see what he was going to say to her. And she really hoped she would be able to exchange a few words with him before Josef appeared.

"You don't know how relieved I am to finally meet you," he said. She could hear the sincerity in his voice and knew he meant what he'd said. "And at the same time I feared this encounter as I've never feared anything else in my life…"

She frowned. "What is this about?" she asked. "I mean, we both don't even know each other. At least _I_ must be a stranger to _you._ Because it was me who started to search for you after you'd been missing for a long time."

"Yes, I know," Peterson admitted and smiled sadly, "Because you were searching for Mick."

Beth stared at the man in front of her disbelievingly. The intimacy he had taken in mentioning Mick by name totally put her off her stride. She hadn't thought for a moment that he would know his test objects by their names or that he would use their first names. It almost sounded as if he were talking about a close friend.

" I… " Suddenly Peterson looked really desperate. "I don't know how to break this to you."

This man was either a brilliant actor or his knowledge of Mick's fate was really putting a strain on him. He had to breathe deeply several times to regain control. He threw a glance into the corner where the couple was glued together and then bent a bit forward to Beth.

"Mick is most certainly dead," he finally said, looking guilty and gave her a worried glance, which quickly turned to wonder as she was not showing any of the expected reactions. What was the use in pretending, when the plan was to take him back to Mick anyway?

"You, you already know that?" he asked after a moment of confusion and in doing so showed that his mind was indeed working as quickly as she had assumed. "What else do you know?"

Beth drew a deep breath. "_I_ would like to know if you just wanted to communicate this bad news to me or if there's another reason for this meeting," she responded coldly.

Peterson had to blink a few times to shake off his astonishment before he was able to concentrate on the question.

"Yes, there is another reason," he admitted and bent down to open the bag he had placed between his feet. He reached into it and took out a notebook that had become so overstuffed by the addition of more notepads that he had been forced to put an elastic band around it so that it wouldn't fall apart. He cast a long, pensive look at the book as if he were about to say good bye to a precious treasure with heavy heart.

"These are all the notes I took over the long time period I worked in the laboratories," he explained and held it out to her across the aisle. Beth was too puzzled to take it, although she was aware that this book would be a tremendous help to them.

"After a certain point it all revolves around Mick," he told her sadly. Beth reached out for it courageously, took the heavy book into both her hands and stared at it with an unpleasant feeling in her stomach.

"If you want to know what's happened to him during this past year then read it," he said. "The truth may be painful sometimes, but it's better than this tormenting uncertainty, I believe."

For another long moment Beth gazed at the black cover, then she looked up, directly in Peterson's sad eyes.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" she put her thoughts into words.

"Because I'm afraid I won't live for much longer," he replied with a composure which totally belied his words. "So many people are after me. It's just a matter of time before they get me. "

Beth didn't know what to say and she noticed that Josef had gotten up and was prepared to come over to them as soon as they reached the next station. The train had already started to brake as it came to its next stop.

A warm, unbelievably affectionate smile appeared on Peterson's thin lips.

"He loved you so much, you know," he said softly and Beth was once again speechless.

"He talked so much about you, told me so much about you that I was able to recognize you immediately when I entered the compartment," he went on while Beth's guts were twisting. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Mick had told this… this _Dr. Frankenstein_ about her? This man, who had doubtless been one of his tormentors for over a year? Mick had confided in him, although this man had used him as a laboratory animal?

"I'm not a monster, Miss Turner," he added as if he had just read her thoughts. "I made a lot of mistakes and may in fact be to blame for all the harm that has been done to him, maybe even for his death, but one thing you can trust me on. I most certainly didn't want any of this to happen. I tried to protect him as much as I could."

The metro stopped and Beth noticed that the two other occupants had left. Peterson's words made such a mess of her thoughts that she had completely forgotten where she was and about the plan she and Josef had made. And she also hadn't noticed that her friend had left his compartment to board again from outside in order to prevent Peterson from being able to escape through one of the front doors. But he wasn't the first one to board. A bearded man in a leather jacket and a smaller, redheaded guy entered the compartment prior to Josef and Beth was suddenly alert again. Immediately she knew that something was wrong with those two men as they just glanced at Peterson and her but stayed in the entrance area and talked with each other quietly and calmly.

Beth held her breath when Josef came through one of the other doors and quickly sat down on one of the benches. With a bored look, he took off his sunglasses, pushed them into the inside pocket of his jacket and unfolded his paper again, instantly poring over of the articles. His presence calmed her down a bit but couldn't bring her wildly hammering heart under control.

Peterson didn't seem to have missed the two men's strangeness, or he had recognized Josef, for he suddenly acted as if he didn't know Beth and leaned back in his seat eyeing the advertisements on the walls with a great deal of interest. As inconspicuously as possible Beth put the book in her own bag and took a deep breath. She knew it wouldn't be long before something happened.

The metro began to move and the two men immediately dropped their masquerade and headed towards them. The bearded man sat down next to Peterson and put a strong arm around his narrow shoulders while the redhead took a seat next to Beth, so close that she was forced to move aside so as to not have bodily contact with him.

"Don't be so shy, baby," he whispered softly to her and grabbed her arm to pull her back to him. He smelled of aftershave and cigarette smoke and had eyes so cold that an icy shiver ran down her spine.

"What do you want with that woman," she heard Peterson ask the man next to him quietly as he uttered a small, disparaging laugh.

"Don't try to shit me," the bearded man replied as softly as the professor, his fake smile caused Beth to shudder. She had to brace herself not to look toward Josef, and in her fear, give him away.

"You've stolen something from my leader," the man went on in a whisper. "He wants it back."

Peterson swallowed hard. "That's not possible," he confessed tensely. "I burnt the file."

The bearded man uttered a disdainful wheeze. "I don't care about that. Where's the test subject?"

Beth felt sick. Test subject? Was it possible they were searching for Mick?

Peterson looked really confused. "But you've killed him."

The bearded man grabbed his arm so tightly that Beth thought she heard his bones crack. "I told you, don't fuck with me!"

"What about you, dolly," the redhead breathed into Beth's ear and she disgustedly backed away as far as his firm grip allowed. She could barely suppress the need to slap his face. "You've been described to us perfectly. Where did you take that thing?"

Thing?! Her fear was now mixed with wild rage and she flashed him a look full of hatred as she compressed her lips.

"You'll tell me either way," the yucky guy smiled and pushed a strand of her blonde hair out of her face in a very strange gesture. "But maybe you _want_ me to hurt you."

The metro jerked a bit as it went around a bend and the bright neon light on the ceiling started to flicker. Beth thought she saw Josef quickly stand up from the corner of her eye the moment before the light went out completely and suddenly several things happened: The train braked so violently that all of them were thrown to the floor as a shape leaped at them in the flickering light. The bearded man jumped up, pulling out a gun.

Darkness. A cry of pain. A sickening crack. Beth felt a movement next to her, felt the redheaded guy, who had fallen onto her, get to his feet again. Light. Josef, who was suddenly on this side of the compartment, turned around on his heel and kicked the face of the redhead, who had flicked a knife open, with such force that he went hurtling through the whole compartment. He crashed painfully into the wall at the other end. Darkness. Beth breathed in shakily and hoped and prayed that her wobbly legs would be able to carry her, as she slowly tried to stand up. She winced when she sensed a movement somewhere in the darkness.

"Are you all right?" That was Josef's voice next to her and she cursed herself for being only human and not being able to see anything in this blackness. She nodded quickly. She could hear a choked sound and then the light went on again. Josef grabbed Peterson with one hand and lifted him up into the air as if he was a puppet filled with cotton wool.

"Déjà-vu?" he asked with a smile that fully exposed his stately fangs while the old man desperately tried to loosen the strong fingers that had closed around his neck.

"Josef!" Beth called, upset, and grabbed his arms. "Let him down! We still need him!"

She could see that her friend had to really fight himself to oblige, but finally he surrendered and roughly set the poor man back onto his feet. Peterson gasped loudly for air and staggered a bit, but he had no time to recover, for Josef grabbed his arm again and pulled him to one of the doors.

Beth had the presence of mind to seize her bag and the professor's luggage and climbed over the bearded man's twisted, lifeless body that lay in the aisle. One glance at the other man in the farthest corner of the compartment was enough to tell her that he, too, hadn't come through this fight without damage.

"We must hurry," Josef murmured and pried open the door as easily as if he was lifting the cover of a book. Fortunately, they had been in one of the rear coaches and were able to climb out of it unseen. The train conductor's torch flashed at the other end of the metro and Beth could hear some frightened calls from the other compartments as with wobbly legs she followed Josef and Peterson. She hoped and prayed that no other train would arrive as they crossed another track. She could barely see in the twilight of the tunnel and rushed along, following the lighted arrows on the walls which showed the way to the next exit. Josef rushed to a door which had the lighted sign of a fire exit resplendent above it. He ripped it open, shoved Peterson through it and let Beth go through before he did the same. The corridor lying behind it was ugly, grey and smelled like a musty cellar. They paused for a moment to regroup.

"Who were they, Josef?" Beth asked breathlessly. "Where they soldiers of the _Legion_?"

"Probably," he muttered and grabbed Peterson's arm again. The professor seemed to slowly recover from his shock and looked at Josef with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

"_You _are Josef?" he asked and her friend angrily knitted his brows, when the professor started to laugh delightedly. "My goodness, I visualized _you_ totally differently!"

Josef's cheek muscles twitched suspiciously and Beth laid a hand on his arm soothingly before he could react.

"Mick has seemingly talked about us," she explained shortly and tried to tell him with a look that they could sort it out later.

"What?!" Josef snarled at Peterson and his gaze alone was a death threat. "No way!"

But Peterson seemingly didn't take notice of it, for he turned again to the tall and very angry vampire. "It's hard to believe you're more than 400 years old. You appear to be about twenty, twenty five at most."

Josef just gaped at him and then turned to Beth. "Am I at least allowed to break his arm, please?" he asked through gritted teeth. She distinctly shook her head and shouldered the bags again.

"Let's just move on," she said as calmly as possible, while asking herself where Peterson might have gotten this information, if not from Mick.

Josef had to take a deep breath to get his anger under control and Peterson helped him by simply keeping his mouth shut. Josef's last comment had probably reminded him that he had overstepped the mark a bit and he would be better off not to tangle with an enraged vampire. Josef underscored this by giving him a hard push to start him walking.

"Do you think they were alone," Beth spoke to Josef after a period of brooding silence between them.

"In the metro they were alone. But I think there's a welcoming committee at the next station waiting for the professor," Josef responded still a bit grumpy. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his cell phone.

"Who are you calling?" she asked.

"I'm trying," Josef held his cell phone up in different directions while they walked and seemed to have success, " to call Daniel."

Daniel was the helicopter pilot Beth knew from the multiple flights they had taken with him and she was greatly relieved. If there was one safe way out of this city, it was by air. Josef described their situation in a few words, gave clear instructions and ended the call. Again there was an unpleasant silence between them. For a while the echo of their quick steps on the sandy ground was the only sound to be heard.

"May I ask what you're planning to do with me?" Peterson asked hesitantly as he had looked again and again at Josef with uncertainty. The vampire uttered a scornful sound and Beth felt some sympathy for Peterson.

"We'll take you along with us," she said as vaguely as possible.

"Am I right when I assume that you don't want to kill me for now?" the professor asked.

"That depends upon what period of time you're associating with 'for now'," Josef growled back and Beth rolled her eyes.

"We need you for something," she added and Josef looked at her, alarmed.

"What?" she countered angrily. "He'll learn soon anyway! He'll see for himself, or have you planned to blindfold him?"

Josef shook his head, disgruntled, and pushed open the door they had reached. This time Beth was the first one to step outside, followed by Peterson and Josef. She looked around and realized they had come out in a public green space somewhere near Macarthur Park.

"Where now?" she addressed Josef, whose facial expression wavered between grimness and tense concentration.

"To the park," he explained briefly and pushed Peterson forward, but the professor was so wrapped in his thoughts that he stumbled. Quite suddenly his face lit up and his eyes roamed back and forth between Josef's and Beth's faces.

"My goodness. Is he? Is he alive?" he uttered unbelievingly. "Does that really mean he's alive?!"

Josef's eyes flashed at the professor angrily and he compressed his lips tightly into a thin line. In doing so he let Peterson know that he would not get a single word out of him. So the professor's gaze roamed to Beth's face. She struggled with herself for a moment, didn't know if this man really deserved this information, but then she nodded.

Peterson shocked her again, this time with a loud, relieved laugh and all at once he was completely agile and exited.

"God, take me to him!" he uttered agitated. "If you want him to survive this without any damage, then take me to him as quickly as possible! I'm really the only one who can help him!"


	15. Light on the horizon

_*__A happy, successful and healthy new year to all of you! Here I am again with a new chapter. It's not beta read again, for one of my betas is ill at the moment and the other will be too busy the next week. I decided to post it anyway for I think Cleo did a really great job with translating it (I'm so glad, some of my German readers are helping me with that) and I've edited it myself a bit. Plus, I didn't want to let you wait any longer. I thank you so much for your great feedback again and welcome the new readers! It's great to see that this story gets more and more readers! Love to hear you like it that much. So, I hope you'll also enjoy the next chapter. Best wishes, Jenna* _

* * *

**Light on the horizon **

* * *

"_In__ the dark sky the light shines the brightest." _

_(Andreas Tenzer)_

* * *

To confuse such an old vampire like me and to make me so angry that it was hard for me to get back into the role of the self-controlled business man, who was above all usual things, was indeed an art and was almost worthy of getting a certain credit. If I hadn't felt this enormous urge inside me to take the old man, who was sitting in front of me, rummaging busy through one of his bags, to all his weakly pieces and then to simply throw them out of the helicopter above the ocean, maybe I would have even grinned a little bit about this absurd situation. But that way it was even difficult for me not to constantly fall back into my vampire modus, to bare my teeth threateningly like an irritated predator. So I had decided to look out of the window of the helicopter the most time of our flight and to imagine that this hated human wasn't present. But he of all people put a spoke in my wheel.

"It's really extraordinary important that you tell me exactly in which condition Mick is at the moment," he shouted against the noise of the engine of our flying transport and in doing so forced me to pay attention to him again. "Was he seriously injured? I only heard the shots and actually assumed that they killed him..."

I stared at him inexpressively, not ready to give him any information as long as we were in the air. He should wriggle in uncertainty for a while. Subconsciously, I knew exactly how childish this behavior was, but my urge for revenge was that strong that I didn't really have it under control.

To my anger Beth leaned forward to him not to have to shout too loud, because earlier she had taken a seat preferably next to me. "I think they've tried it," she replied, "but we were able to bring him into hospital on time. Though the doctors there had little hope that he would survive his injuries."

"Could he vamp out?" Peterson asked promptly.

"Only when we were able to wash the silver out of his blood."

His eyes widened with astonishment. "He survived that in his weak condition?!"

Beth only nodded and yet again I felt my face wanting to change anew and my fangs coming out. This fuss sickened me. Did this man really think that I believed him his concern just in the least? Already on our way to the park Peterson had tried numerously to make us both believe that we all were on the same side and had to work together to help Mick as effectively as possible. He would have been a victim of the _Legion_ himself and would have been forced by them to experiment with the captivated vampires. Everything he wanted now was to make up for the things he'd done to Mick. He had sounded really convincing, but he couldn't fool me. In four hundred years you got to know many people like him. They always just thought of nothing but themselves and were never lost for a lie if they were in for it. Beth, however, seemed to fall for his show. She was talkative more than ever.

"It was our only chance," she admitted. "And a few hours later he changed into a vampire."

Peterson nodded excited. "Only that way he could rescue himself. Did you have enough blood there? He needs very, very much to regain his strength after such a loss of blood – more than a normal vampire."

I frowned now. "How much exactly?" I interfered in that conversation reluctantly.

"Four, five liters," Peterson replied and looked at me urgently. "That only depends on his condition ..."

Beth's look was as well on my face now and I knew that she thought exactly the same like me.

"It wasn't that much," she articulated our thought anxiously and Peterson nervously skimmed his hand over his mouth.

"Then he's going to vamp out again to get what he needs – and soon."

"When?" It shot out of me. I immediately whipped my cell phone out and dialed Augusts' number.

"How long is the last metamorphosis ago?" Peterson asked tensed.

Beth glanced quickly at her wristwatch. "About three hours..."

Peterson turned toward me. "Any moment."

I let August no time to say anything, when I heard him answering the phone. "Take as many bags of blood as you can carry und get them into Mick's body by the fastest way that comes into your mind!" I raided on him before he could even take a breath.

For a moment I just heard him breathe, then he quickly cleared his throat. "I'm already on it," was his unexpected answer. "His temperature has increased enormously the last hours and his eyes became yellow again. But the blood supply somehow doesn't really help him…"

"Has he turned into a vampire?" I asked breathlessly.

"Bizarrely not really yet...," he responded. "He ... he stays somehow in a mixed condition ... I ... I'm simply overcharged with that. Did you get Peterson?"

"Yes." I could hear him exhale relieved, while Beth and Peterson looked at me questioningly. Out of an intuitive feeling I just reached out my hand and passed the cell phone to my unwanted "ally". With my sensitive ear I could hear what the two doctors discussed with each other, even against the loud noise of the rotors. Peterson didn't introduce himself and he didn't either need to. August immediately knew with whom he was talking and informed Peterson shortly and crisply about the actual state of affairs.

"You absolutely have to reduce the temperature," the professor urged, "so that the vampire in him recovers. Do you have a freezer or anything similar?"

Before August answered, I already knew what would come. Fate wasn't really on our side.

"We have, but the generator has broken down again – the freezers aren't working at the moment."

"They must fill a bathtub with cold water and pour ice in it!" Beth said immediately. She had sat down next to Peterson and had pressed her ear on the cell phone as well. "Mick did that himself once when he had almost died of thirst and had high fever!"

Peterson's face lit up. "Yes, exactly! Have you heard this?! And then get blankets and hot-water bags – as many as you can find. And do you have electrolyte solutions available?"

"Yes, of course, but..."

Peterson didn't let him get a chance to speak. "Put them out ready and if it's possible a few ampoules glucose. It would also be good if you have _Erythropoietin_ and _Darbepoetin_ available – You can inject him with it right now. Just as with _Iron_ _Fumarate_. And supply him constantly with blood until we are there. You won't be able to do anything more. Do you have anyone who can help you to bring Mick to the bathroom?"

"Yes, but we're just two," August replied and the worry in his voice was clearly audible. "If he freaks out again it will be difficult to tranquilize him and to supply him with blood at the same time. When are you and Josef going to be here?"

I simply whipped the cell phone out off Peterson's hand to explain anything else myself.

"We have already passed the national frontier," I tried to comfort August. "I think we are in 10 to 15 minutes there. And don't let Logan talk you into believing he's too weak or clumsy to help you – he only fears for his own neck and wants to duck out." I could almost hear August smirk, but something else quickly attracted my attention. Peterson had opened a bag of nylon, which had been rolled up before and now pulled out an ampoule and a syringe which he filled up quickly.

"No worries, I have a good grip on Logan," I could hear August say while I knitted my brows in suspicion. Usually my mind worked really fast, but Peterson acted that unexpected that I had no time to react. He pulled up his sleeve in a fast motion and injected himself the medicine, absolutely practiced. The cell phone slipped out of my hand, I dashed forward and grabbed his hand – but it already was too late. Peterson even seemed to be more terrified than Beth and me and stared at me with wide eyes. Then he seemed to understand.

"It ... it is only a vitamin – and iron compound," he stammered. "No poison. I for sure don't want to kill myself ..."

I took the syringe from his hand and smelled at it. I had become acquainted with a few dangerous poisons in the course of my life but here I could smell none of them. The liquid smelled so strongly of iron that Peterson seemed to say the truth.

"I know it's hard for you because of what has happened," the professor continued as calmly as possible when I had let go of him and picked up my cell phone angrily, "but you have to begin to trust me. At least a little bit."

I wrinkled my nose scornfully and then took a look at the display of my cell phone. August had ended the phone connection. Probably he was so busy with Mick that he didn't have the time anymore to wait until I was responsive again.

"Are you ill yourself?" I heard Beth ask confused and Peterson gave her a miserable smile.

"Not really," he admitted, but avoided it to become more detailed.

My inner turmoil deepened and I looked out the window nervously. The landscape beneath us had become more undeveloped, barren and rural. Certainly it wouldn't take long now until we were touching down. But also in a few minutes a lot could happen.

"What will happen if Mick doesn't get the blood and the medicine in time?" I asked loud enough to drown the engine noise and had to force myself to look again in my opposite's hated face.

"What happens with all vampires who aren't adequately supplied with blood," Peterson replied honestly.

"But he's human, too," I put up some resistance.

Peterson thought for a moment about how he could explain everything to us. "What Mick is, you can hardly put into words at the moment and I ... I must admit that I don't know it exactly myself. I only know what we had been up to and what we've reached so far ... but it isn't really clear if we can close the gap which is between these two things ... and if ..." he stopped and looked at the ground, avoiding my and Beth's intensive stare. Then he cleared his throat and looked up bravely. "We've come very far with Mick. We've reached things which we couldn't have imagined in the beginning of our experiments but it's simply so that the whole thing is very, very dangerous for the experimental subjects ... life-endangering..."

"And what does that exactly mean now?" I snapped at him furiously. Somehow his messages didn't really contribute to calm down my nerves.

"The human and the vampire need each other to survive," Peterson explained clearly. "If one of them dies, the other one will be destroyed, too. Therefore it is so important to supply them both adequately and at the same time to prevent them from killing each other."

"Killing each other?!" I repeated upset. "I thought they need each other!"

"Yes, because we have ensured that," Peterson gave in. "But it took a lot of work and strength to get Mick's body into a condition in which the vampire side and the human side can coexist fairly peacefully. And the balance was very sensitive and prone to the slightest disturbance. There were several setbacks, and the things that have happened now..." He nervously skimmed both his hands over his face. Then he inhaled deeply while Beth and I tried to digest this bad news.

"Never mind," he said firmly. "I'll get that right again. But it won't be easy and we must really, really trust each other and work together!" He looked at me pleadingly but I couldn't be friendly to him. _He_ had been the one who had brought Mick in this horrible condition; _he_ had done all these experiments with so many helpless vampires. And I was bursting with curiosity about one question.

"How many vampires have survived all ... all this?" I vocalized my thought and my voice was rock-hard while doing so because I could almost guess the answer myself.

Peterson couldn't bear my stare and instead looked at his dirty shoes.

"How many?" I repeated louder and more forcefully. Peterson looked up and swallowed hard. Deep remorse was written in his eyes and I was almost tempted to buy it from him this time.

"No one," he said so quietly that a human ear could barely hear it through the noise of the landing helicopter. But_ I_ could hear it and Beth read it from his lips more or less. She stared at the man next to her in bewilderment.

"No one?" she repeated with a shaky voice and Peterson nodded anxiously.

"But we've never come that far with anyone else as with Mick," he added quickly and a hint of enthusiasm appeared on his face. "He ... he was an ideal case. He had all preconditions for finally reaching a permanent success with our experiments..."

I clenched my teeth so violently that they crunched audibly and Peterson fell silent immediately. Just in this moment he became aware that he had inadvertently shown his other, for me true face – the one of the ambitious professor which I'd love to squash with my hands instantly. But now the helicopter already touched down with an easy jolt and reminded me clearly that above all it was important now to help Mick and to get him as fast as possible into a condition he could live with.

I breathed in deeply and opened the door of the helicopter to jump out fleet-footed. Beth willingly let me help her getting off and hurried immediately to the low building which served us as our hideout, while Peterson laboriously packed his bags first and then more fell off the helicopter than climbed out of it. Although I felt no need to help him I grabbed his arm and dragged him impatiently with me.

I didn't waste time with checking if Mick was still in his room, instead I proceeded with Peterson in tow like Beth before me immediately toward the small bathroom at the end of the corridor. Already from a distance I could hear the nervous voices of the others and also the swashing of water.

"Has he been the whole time like that?" Beth just asked afraid and disclosed me in doing so that Mick had to behave quite different than at that time in the desert at their first 'Happy Hour'. And when I finally entered the bathroom my expectation verified in the most terrible way. Somehow August and Logan had managed to fill the antique bathtub of this even more antique bathroom with water and ice at a record time and to steer Mick into it, but still his condition hadn't considerably improved. Logan was holding one of his arms above the edge and was taking care that the blood and liquid from the drip, which they had taken along, still flowed into his veins. Mick barely moved. His skin was still too pale and through half closed lids his yellow eyes were gazing into space with a vacant expression, while his bare torso raised and lowered quickly under short, low breaths. Beth sank to her knees next to the tub and put her hand on Mick's forehead with deep worry in her eyes. Her face lit up noticeably.

"He isn't that hot anymore," she stated into my direction delighted when I stepped closer, followed by Peterson. "But why is he miles away?"

Peterson squeezed past me too get closer to Mick but to my offence I had simply no room in the narrowness of the bath to get out of the way and wasn't able to afford more than an angry quirk of my upper lip.

"This is normal in the case of a serious anemia," he explained shortly and knelt closely beside Beth to take out his rolled up bag of syringes again and to open it. "What we have to do now," he explained into August's direction, "might appear a little bit mad at first but it is absolutely necessary..." With these words he filled a syringe with one of the liquids of his bag.

"What is it exactly?" August asked mistrustfully when Peterson injected the liquid through the catheter into Mick's arm.

"Mainly _Prednison_," he admitted calmly and August's eyebrows rose.

"You want to hinder the functions of his immune system?" he asked disbelievingly and my mouth fell almost open with horror.

"Only the ones which prevent that he really vamps out," Peterson replied concentrated while he prepared the next syringes straight away and then handed one of them to the still astonished August. "You inject it directly into his carotid artery as soon as I tell you!"

August blinked at him confused and I asked myself if it had really been that clever to bring Peterson here. He could tell us any lie and simply kill Mick directly before our noses – we would only notice it much too late! But on the other side ... what other chance did we have?

To my relief Peterson's syringe seemed to help in fact. Mick's lids opened again and he moved his head, seemed to perceive the persons around him, above all the human ones. The color of his iris had finally changed into ice blue, betraying his vampire side, and he fixed his eyes on Beth's tempting neck which was much too close to him at this moment for she was still kneeling directly next to him on the other side of the tub and looked at him worriedly. Due to my vampire strength I was at Logan's side just in time when Mick mobilized all his strength and threw himself forward to get from Beth what he needed. In a matter of seconds I winded my arm around his neck and pulled him back while at the same time I was annoyed about Beth who in fact had tilted her head to the side like in trance to make it easier for Mick to get to her carotid artery. Ice cold water sprinkled towards us while Mick tried to free himself from me and Logan, who now got a bit more active, and I began to ask myself seriously if my friend had always been that strong or if his vampire side had also changed clearly. If I considered that he actually was really sick and weakened, a quite uneasy feeling began to build in my stomach. Even both of us had distinct problems to keep Mick in check – from calming him down we were as far away as Mercury from Neptune.

But again all of a sudden Peterson did something we didn't expect. He reached out his arm in a fast move and held his artery directly in front of Mick's fangs, bared in rage. We had no chance to prevent that he rammed them into the professor's arm the next second. The old man's face flinched pained but he gave us a clear sign that this was absolutely okay and had exactly been his plan. Suddenly I understood what he had aimed to achieve with his self injection in the helicopter. He had prepared himself exactly to this situation – he had prepared his blood for Mick, he had made it as nutritious as possible and exactly matched it to Mick's needs.

My gaze flew across the other arm of the professor and all of a sudden I saw the many little scars which covered his wrist. In my rage and agitation it had escaped my attention completely, until now. Apparently Peterson had often supplied Mick with fresh blood that way. The way they both reacted to each other in this strange situation had something weirdly familiar. It was like watching a father who fed his child and the trust they both had in each other, the relaxation which visibly spread in their bodies as time drew on confused me deeply... and made me extremely mad at the same time.

"Beth...," Peterson uttered after a while without stopping the intensive visual contact with Mick. "Get some blankets here and unfurl them on the floor..."

Beth stood up without thinking any further and hurried out the bathroom while I still stared disbelievingly at my friend who absorbed greedily as much blood as he could get. Logan's expression however betrayed indeed that this situation was stimulating him more than it should. He absently licked his lips over and over again and his eyes were clearly brighter than before.

"Get a grip on yourself," I hissed to him through my teeth in a pitch humans couldn't hear and the first time since I knew him Logan reacted really quickly, tore his gaze away from the arm of the professor and breathed in deeply.

When Beth reappeared in the bathroom, loaded with a tangled mass of blankets, Peterson's skin color had yet become an unhealthier color. August jumped up and helped her to unfurl the blankets quickly, then he kneeled down again next to Peterson who nodded shortly and discretely at him. I took my arm a bit aside and August rammed the syringe into Mick's carotid artery with an experienced precision only doctors owned. Mick tore himself off of Peterson with an angry growl and tried to throw himself around but I held him fast with a viselike grip. I had to use all of my strength for it because Logan had let go of him with horror. However Mick's attack only took a few seconds and it was just as unsuccessful as useless. The drug, whatever it was made of, had been already injected and brought the desired effect. All of a sudden Mick collapsed, almost slipped out of my grip and slid under the surface of the water. I pulled him up worried and his head fell aside feebly.

"Quickly," Peterson said weakly. For a moment he seemed to have difficulties to sit upright "He has to get out of the tub! Right now!"

In the last minutes I had learnt that we had in fact no time to ask for the sense in these whole actions and to my own anger I now followed Peterson's orders as well-behaved as the others.

Due to the extremely effective syringe it was easy to get Mick out of the tub. He was completely slackened and couldn't put up the slightest resistance although I had the feeling that he breathed clearly stronger than before. I tried to concentrate on my hearing, while with the help of the other ones, Logan and I laid him down onto the blankets as gently as possible, and I noted delighted that the sounds of his heart were almost in every way equal to the ones of healthy humans. But still there was something different to his last turning into a human...

Of course! There was no feverish heat anymore which welled up from him, instead his body was clearly chilled – what was for a human indeed not really healthy. His organism reacted to it in the most natural way: He slowly started to shake all over his body, first only lightly and then quickly increasing, that much that his teeth chattered soon. The reactions of his body also had another effect I barely had expected: Mick woke up. His head moved to the side and he wearily opened his eyes again. This time it was the human not the vampire whose gaze finally captured my face as I wrapped his shaking body into one of the blankets with Beth's help and the expression in his dark blue eyes told me clearly that he could barely believe who was in front of him. He wanted to say something but his own shaking and wincing body didn't allow it and his vocal cords just hadn't been used for too long to obey him that quickly again.

I was so thunderstruck myself that for a moment I froze completely. It was the first time since we had found Mick that I really had the feeling that he was here with us again, that his mind was awake enough to note at least partly what happened around him. Mick was with us again... and this unbelievable and incomprehensible thought corded up my throat and let my guts do the most impossible twirls.

Beth had frozen next to me as well and a warm, benevolent smile played around her lips as Mick's gaze swayed stunned between Beth and me while his mind first of all had to understand that we were real and in fact at his side. But this touching moment was abruptly destroyed when Peterson reached under the blanket and impatiently pulled out Mick's arm again, already holding the next syringe in his hand. Mick's head flew around to him and to my surprise he showed immediately the expression of complete horror on his face. Although Mick didn't have much strength in his human condition, he still succeeded in freeing himself from Peterson at one go and backing away from him at least a bit so that he pressed himself to Beth and me, eyes wide open in panic and holding up his left arm in front of his face defensively.

"No... no...," were the first words he uttered barely comprehensible and with a clear shake of his head, but for me they were unambiguous and when Peterson reached out for him again I bent protectively over my friend with a deep growl and stopped Peterson's arm in the air.

"He said no," I hissed at him and my eyes almost skewered him. The protective instinct in me, I fortunately made rarely and never voluntarily use of, was so strong this time that it nipped every whiff of reason in the bud.

Peterson looked at me strongly. "He needs this," he said insistently. "Believe me! It's against the cramps."

I mistrustfully knitted my brows. `Which cramps?' I wanted to ask but just at that very moment Mick, who was partly under me, winced heavily. I immediately let go of Peterson and sat up again horrified.

"Oh God!" Beth uttered when Mick doubled up with a pained sound. Peterson grabbed his arm courageously and tried to unbend it to get to the catheter again but that was easier said than done because the convulsive fit shaking Mick seemed to span his whole body and caused also the musculature of his arms to brace, even up into his fingers. He moaned racked with pain and breathed through clenched teeth only irregularly and terribly pressed. August came to Peterson's assistance while Beth and I tried to hold Mick firm and as calm as the cramps allowed it. It hurt me as well to see him like that and I cursed myself inwardly for my impulsive behavior before. Finally we succeeded in injecting the antispasmodic drug into his vein with united strength and after a few further terrible minutes it started to have an effect. In his last heavy cramp Mick had turned to his side towards me and Beth as if our sight was giving him alleviation in some way or at least crutch and like that he stayed, still doubled up like an embryo, breathing deeply and heavily while his lids lowered slowly. Beth had taken his hand and soothingly caressed his cheek with the other one while I sank back on my seat again, exhausted. I had to recover from the shock myself which had hit me completely unprepared through this fit.

Mick's body still winced every now and then but I knew that he was sinking back into this state of unconsciousness he had been in for such a long time. I closed my eyes for a moment to get a grip on the terrible turmoil in my own body and breathed deeply. When I opened my lids again, I noticed that also anyone else had started to relax and searched Peterson's gaze who spread out another blanket over Mick.

"Is there something yet to come?" I asked, definitely expecting a positive answer but the professor shook his head hesitantly.

"Usually we should have rest for a while," he explained exhausted and wiped the sweat from his brow with one hand. Why had doctors always had to express themselves so vaguely? Couldn't they once say clearly what they were thinking?

This 'normally`, 'fairly`, 'probably` was getting unbearable. "In simple English?" I asked impatiently and vocalized exactly what Beth was thinking too. Her nerves were that worn out that I could feel her inner trembling without having direct body contact to her. She could only control herself because she still tried hard to exude to Mick as much calmness as possible despite her own disorder of emotions.

Peterson's gaze rested upon Mick's face for a long moment then he looked up to us again. "I think the chances that I can get him back into an uncritical condition are good at the moment," he said. "But until then it can be a few more of these attacks. I'll try to prevent them with medication - that means it won't be as bad as only just but ... we'll have a heavy going."

"Can he die during these fits?" I probed into more exactly. I could tell from Peterson's look that he thought long and hard what he could promise us and when he searched my gaze again I couldn't avoid that my heart was beating a bit faster immediately.

"As long as I'm close to him and have enough medicine – no." He said and the resoluteness of his voice brought a wave of relief which hit us both, Beth and me, with full force. "I think the worst part's over," he added with an almost happy smile.

I noticed that Beth let go of Mick and pressed both hands to her mouth to choke her own sobbing and I simply turned to her and pulled her into my arms. She buried her face at my chest and began to cry silently while it was really hard for me to fight against the strong burning in my eyes and at the same time not letting out the loud cheering and relieved laughing inside me. Somehow I could barely believe that we had in fact won the fight for Mick. Everything was so strange and so terribly confusing. And the mysteries around Mick had hulked up to such a huge mountain that I didn't even know where I should start to solve them.

My gaze went to Peterson who looked at us with such a benevolent, satisfied smile that for the first time since I had met him it was hard for me not to hate him. He was the only one who could bring light into the darkness around Mick. And a vague feeling inside me told me that time pressed and we should begin with that as soon as possible before the next dramatic incidents buried us again.


	16. Evolution

_*__And here again the new chapter! I promised to post a new chapter every weekend and you see: I try to keep that promise. This time the chapter is even beta read. A lot of thanks to Jo, who did this again so wonderfully! And also a big 'thank you' to all of the readers who've given me some feedback. You make me go on with the translation, although it's quite exhausting sometimes. Feel hugged and kissed. And now I wish all of my readers much fun with going on reading! Best wishes, Jenna* _

* * *

**E****volution**

* * *

"_**Nothing in the biology makes sense, except in the light of the Evolution."**_

_**(Theodosius Dobzhansky)**_

* * *

_Beth was terribly tense as she walked down the long corridor to Mick's apartment and didn't really know if she was doing the right thing. Josef had assured her that this was the only way to keep Mick from shutting himself away again, but she didn't feel very confident about this. If it was up to her, she would have talked about all of it and discussed it with Mick. Josef's view was that one couldn't really talk about 'accidents' like that with Mick._

"_You may as well place yourself in front of the Statue of Liberty and ask it to lift it's other arm," he had said to her on the phone. "Probably you'll be more successful there."_

_As she was thinking about it, she felt Josef was probably right. She'd known Mick long enough now to know he treated one person extra hard and relentless – namely himself. To forgive himself was almost a physical impossibility for him and was exactly what made it so difficult to bond with him with any intensity. People made mistakes, primarily in relationships, and somehow she had to let him know in no uncertain terms that this was totally all right, that it didn't bother her in any way. Especially when it was about things she didn't regard as a problem, like the love bite of a vampire who was aroused beyond all measure, and with whom she had shared the most intoxicating sexual experience of her life. The thought of last night alone woke up the many lightly sleeping butterflies in her belly._

_He had left her in the early hours of the morning, had softly whispered into her ear that he urgently needed to seek his freezer and had disappeared before she had fully come to her senses. She had been too tired to worry about his behavior and had quickly fallen asleep again. Only after getting up in the morning and seeing the small wounds on her neck the thought had hit her that this incident might be a problem for Mick. At that thought she had tried, unsuccessfully, to call him a few times until he had finally answered her call in the afternoon. Naturally, he had tried hard to sound as if everything was all right, but Beth knew him well enough to be able to discern the slight self-consciousness in his voice. Because of this, she was relieved when Josef called her a little later. His request for her to go to see Mick and "don't let him escape again" felt a bit weird. But, as she knew the reason for that demand was just his great concern at his best friend's luck, she hadn't taken it the wrong way. She knew that he was asking her in a direct way to urge Mick to give in to his sexual cravings again. And if she was honest, her own need to repeat their passionate encounter was so great that she was hardly able to think about anything else. _

_So it was no wonder that her tension changed into excitement when she reached the polished metal door of his apartment and noticed that it wasn't completely closed. It was really careless, indicating that Mick was a bit more absent-minded than usual at the moment._

_Beth inspected herself once more. She had made sure her clothing didn't show openly why she had come here. The elegant blouse and the dark cloth pants she was wearing fitted tightly to her body and enhanced her female curves without looking cheap._

_She took a deep breath and entered Mick's flat soundlessly. She couldn't detect him right away, but she heard noises from the second floor, so she knew he was there. She looked around and discovered photos of some buildings and a few notes written in Mick's quick handwriting on the coffee table._

_Her gaze roamed to the stairs, for she could hear steps from above. Her heart gave a little, childish, lurch when Mick came down to her, moving with that typical vampire lissomness. Why did he always have such an effect on her, why was he so attractive to her, no matter what kind of clothes he was wearing or what he was doing? That he was wearing one of those tight-fitting dark shirts that hid practically nothing of his athletic body didn't exactly help her self control._

_Mick didn't seem to be surprised to see her. He had probably smelled her as soon as she entered. Despite the soft smile he gave her there was insecurity and distance in his look. Nevertheless, she immediately felt an intense sexual attraction between them. The echoes of their unforgettable night hadn't faded away yet, they were too fresh in both their minds._

"_I thought, since you seem to literally drown in work," she welcomed him before he could say anything and pointed at the stuff on the table, "I'd come by and offer to help you."_

_For a moment Mick didn't seem to have an answer to that. He just stood there, irresolutely, while his beautiful eyes reflected many different feelings: defense, joy, fear, but also overtly sexual interest. His longing gaze hadn't escaped Beth's attention and she bravely stepped closer to him. _

"_So, what is this about?" she asked and was surprised at the velvet sound of her voice. She could see Mick swallow hard as his eyes briefly roamed to her lips. Then he hastily turned his back to her and walked to his couch. _

"_I think I have to do this one alone," he said with a suspiciously hoarse voice as he collected all the notes and photos and put them into a file. Beth didn't take that denial so easily and was at his side before he could move. _

"_You shouldn't say something like that," she explained to him softly with a small smile. "You know that will arouse my interest all the more."_

_She was so close to him that she could feel his decidedly quicker breath on her face. She saw his cheek muscles twitch while his eyes again lusted for her lips. Josef had been right. Mick's self control was amazingly weak this time and she hadn't even touched him yet. He had to clear his throat in order to be able to say anything at all._

"_It's quite…," he stopped as words apparently failed him._

"_Complicated?" she asked him with an innocent look and he nodded mutely as his face inadvertently came closer. Beth's pulse began to quicken as the flutter in her abdomen grew stronger._

"_Actually, I just wanted," He broke off, helplessly, lost by the reactions of his own body. Beth decided to finally check out Josef's 'Just-one-touch' theory. Without interrupting their intense eye contact she raised her hand and laid it on Mick's suspiciously fast moving chest so that her fingertips touched his cool skin near the shirt's opened button. Her heart took two more quick beats, then suddenly Mick's hands were on her cheeks and his lips were pressed passionately to her lips. Beth abandoned herself willingly to the demanding kiss and felt the exceedingly vigorous reactions of her own body switch off her reasoning ability. She slid her hands up to his nape, wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled into his solid body while she returned the caress of his lips and tongue with a fervor she didn't know she possessed. She felt herself become totally obsessed by the wish to have sex with him immediately. She was feeling as passionate and impatient as Mick was. It took only a few seconds before they found themselves on the couch. He was above her, his lips on her neck. She wrapped her legs around his hips while her hands slipped quickly into his shirt and skimmed over the firm muscles of his stomach and chest._

_God, she was mad about this man. She wanted to taste him, smell him, touch him, devour him. The touch of his lips burned like fire on her skin and made her yearn for his body, for sexual fulfillment, so badly that she could barely endure it. Nevertheless, she clearly sensed when his lips reached the spot where his fangs had pierced her delicate skin the night before and she wasn't surprised when he stopped breathlessly. He lifted his head and looked at her. She saw regret and agitation mixing with the lust in his eyes as he raised a hand and caressed her cheek in a tender gesture of apology. _

"_I'm, I'm so sorry," he whispered but she just shook her head as she pulled one hand out of his shirt and touched his cheek, returning his loving gesture._

"_I know," she replied softly. "But you don't need to be."_

_She saw him searching her face for a sign of anger or rejection while at the same time fearing what he would find. She lifted her head a bit and kissed him gently._

"_You're not a monster, Mick," she whispered. "You'll never hurt me and you'll never be able to scare me away, no matter what you do. I know it scares you sometimes, but you can't get rid of me now." She gave him a half smile while Mick just looked at her, fascinated, and with his eyes full of love. Then he bent down to her and she felt his lips on her mouth again, gentle, unbelievably tender and full of longing._

"_I love you," he breathed against her lips and kissed her again and again until passion gripped them both. His mouth was back on her neck, tenderly returning to the spot he had bitten the night before. Beth inhaled shakily as his lips roamed down to the neckline of her blouse while her own hands had already pulled his shirt up enough so that she could, unimpeded, explore his naked back with her fingers. She was so distracted by her own desire that she didn't notice the ringing of the cell phone at first. She only noticed it when Mick lifted his head, reluctantly, and looked over to the coffee table where the devilish little thing lay. He looked at her and she shook her head, unwilling to release him, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss him eagerly. Mick was so aroused himself that he gave in to her and responded to her kiss fervently. But the caller was persistent and wouldn't give up._

"_Just… a moment…," Mick uttered breathlessly and broke away from her with obvious difficulty._

"_Yeah," he grumbled into the phone while Beth sat up behind him, leaning against his back and sliding her hands over his broad shoulders, pushing them into the neckline of his shirt._

"_What?"_

_She stopped as she felt Mick's whole body suddenly tense. "Wait, wait! Just tell me where you are, Terence!"_

_Beth backed away immediately as Mick stood up. Deep sorrow was shown in his eyes and she knew that this spelled trouble. _

"_Wait. No, wait! Calm down! I'll come to you!" He hectically looked around for his coat and Beth did, too. She saw it before Mick did on the armchair next to the couch and jumped to her feet, grabbed it and threw it over to him._

"_Stay where you are!" he told his friend in a voice that didn't allow for argument and put on his coat. "Don't move from where you are! I'll be there in ten minutes!"_

_He ended the call and grabbed the file that was lying on the table._

"_Where are we going?" Beth asked holding her own jacket in her hands. But Mick shook his head._

"_You cannot come with me," he said explicitly. "That's…" He inhaled deeply and stepping closer to her, took her face in both hands. "I promise I'll explain everything when I come back. But at the moment I don't even understand it all myself and it's just too dangerous, precisely _because_ I don't know what may happen."_

"_But…," she started but Mick didn't let her go on._

"_Beth, please!" he said urgently. "Just wait here for me. It won't take long, not more than one or two hours."_

_For a long moment she looked into his pleading eyes and then nodded reluctantly. "But if you're not back on time I will come searching for you. And you know I'll find you no matter where you are and with whom you're amusing yourself." Her mock threatening tone of voice made him laugh and he pressed a soft kiss to her lips then rushed to the door. She followed him with a queasy feeling in her stomach. His haste instantly made her more nervous._

_At the door he stopped again and turned to her. His brows knit pensively. "You said you wanted to help me and perhaps you can. I couldn't reach Talbot earlier, but I urgently need to know something from him. Could you call him?"_

_She quickly nodded. "What should I ask him?"_

"_Ask him why he brought a charge against Harald Jeffersen and why the charge was dropped before it came up for trial."_

_Beth frowned, confused, but Mick only looked at her with a crooked smile._

"_You'll explain it to me later?" she guessed and he nodded briefly. She sighed deeply and heavily. "Take care!" she said seriously, as she lifted herself up on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss. For a long time she had wished to say good bye to him in just this way._

_He gave her a warm smile and turned. She did the same after a moment of hesitation. So that made it all the more surprising when she heard her name and a few seconds later Mick turned her around. Cool lips pressed to hers in a devoted kiss and when she was free again, she looked into Mick's dark, questioning eyes._

"_You'll stay here at my place?" he assured himself once again and the insecurity in his eyes showed that he still couldn't quite believe that she wanted to have a relationship with a creature such as he. She nodded reassuringly and gave him a smile that was so full of love that he just _had_ to believe her._

"_I'll wait for you," she promised him and now a small smile twitched around the corners of his mouth. He bent down to her, kissed her gently once more and then hastened away for good._

_Beth watched him go until he completely disappeared, then closed her eyes and breathed in deeply and heavily. As their relationship became more intense and their love became deeper it became more and more difficult to let him leave._

* * *

Dreams about Mick always made Beth sit upright in her bed and struggle breathlessly for control whether they were pleasant or terrible. This one was, in a way, both, and basically it wasn't a real dream at all, just a memory which had haunted her all too often during the past year. It had been their last minutes together, the last time she had seen him, the last words they'd spoken, the last time they'd kissed before he had disappeared. And that was what made this memory so terribly painful for her.

Mick hadn't returned. Not after two hours, not after three, nor after five. She had known immediately that something was wrong and had anxiously called Josef. Maybe a small part of her had hoped he would laugh at her and explain to her that such a delay was totally normal for Mick when he was enmeshed in a complicated case. But Josef hadn't done her that favor. He had been just as worried as she was and had moved heaven and earth in his search for Mick. From this moment, she had known that everything would get much worse.

Mick had stayed missing, just like his friend Terence. In the early morning they had found his car in a field outside of the city but not one clue as to what had happened to him or to the file. And it was at exactly that point that Beth's thoughts stopped and she tried to collect herself.

Again and again the police had forced her to remember those last minutes with Mick. She had told them about the file, had assured them he had taken it with him, but no one had believed her. She had been so worried about Mick that after a while she hadn't been sure any longer if she had really seen that file.

If she remembered correctly, it had been Ben Talbot who first hadn't wanted to believe her, had made the argument over and over that maybe Mick had left the country because he was in big trouble. She had previously called him to find some information on a politician whose name Mick had given her. After that, he had intervened in the ongoing investigation surrounding Mick's disappearance. He had been anything but helpful and Beth had the feeling that he had controlled the officers in some way and that it had been partly due to his own guilt that the investigation had been abandoned after just a few weeks. She knew that for some reason he had disliked Mick right from the start.

Now that they'd gotten Mick back again and she was able to think more clearly, the whole story looked even more suspicious to her than it had before. Mick's order to search for the professor, the photos of the buildings of the _Legion_, Terence's call, Talbot's and the police's weird demeanor and the vanishing of the file. It all smelled so strongly of intrigue and ambush that Beth couldn't understand why she hadn't been able to realize it sooner. Of course, she now had much more information than before and was no longer trapped in grief and despair. If she had only thought a bit more clearly before!

She shook her herself. If she went back to L.A. she would take Lieutenant Davis and Talbot to task first. But there was someone right here who could maybe give her some answers to her most pressing questions.

Beth breathed in deeply and looked around the small, shabby room she had slept in. There were not many pieces of furniture, just the old bed she was sitting on, a wonky nightstand and a dresser on the wall opposite her. The tapestry was originally festooned with an old-fashioned floral design, but after all these years of lining the walls, so much dirt and dust had settled on it that the design had gotten imperceptible. The same was true for the yellowish curtain on the small window through which the warm light of the midday sun was shining, giving the room a friendlier note.

She couldn't remember coming here by herself and guessed Josef had brought her to this room after she had fallen asleep in the armchair next to Mick's bed. She would never have left his side voluntarily. After all, he could wake up any moment and need her.

That thought instantly gave new life to her heavy limbs. She folded back the cover and noticed with relief that she was still fully dressed. Her shoes stood tidily in front of her bed. The box springs of the bed squeaked when she slipped to the edge of it and quickly into her shoes. A bit wobbly on her legs, she moved to the door, opened it and looked down the long, and at this time of day, rather dark hall; first right and then left.

The farmer's house was very long and flat, had two wings with a lot of small rooms, a bigger living room with a kitchen area and two bath rooms. As far as she could see all doors in the hall were closed and to her chagrin, she couldn't remember where Mick's room was. She closed her eyes for a moment and listened, straining to hear voices from somewhere, but the whole house seemed to be a morgue. From far away, only the monotone clicking of the wall clock in the living area resounded. It didn't surprise Beth very much for most of the new occupants of this house were nocturnal beings, who, in the midday heat, had surely adjourned to the cool cellar. Maybe the freezers down there were working again and her bloodsucking friends could finally rest and recover.

Beth threw a glance back into her room through the dirty window. What she could see outside looked different from the landscape she had been able to see from Mick's room so she knew she had to look into the rooms on the opposite side of the hall.

The floorboards creaked beneath her feet as she slowly walked down the corridor towards the living area. She remembered that his room hadn't been far away from there, and suddenly she recognized the door and hastened her steps. She couldn't stop her heart from beating a bit faster as she laid one hand on the cool handle and opened it soundlessly. Inwardly she hoped that Mick would perhaps be awake and she could finally hold him in her arms, could look into his benign eyes and talk to him again. She knew this hope was unlikely for only yesterday they'd feared for his life. But so many strange things had happened, maybe life could surprise her once again.

The light in the room was slightly dim as the rays of the sun weren't falling directly into it, yet it was light enough to spot the important details. Mick was lying on his side on the bed and seemed to be fast asleep. He breathed deeply and calmly and looked so relaxed and peaceful that a tender smile crept to her lips. She approached him quietly and for the first time since they had found him, she had time to really look at him. His facial features had become more rugged through this past horrible year which might be due to the fact that he had lost a lot of weight. The nerve-racking time in the laboratories of the _Legion_ had left distinct marks on him. His cheeks were a bit sunken and the dark circles around his eyes reinforced the impression that he was a human who had survived a severe illness by a narrow margin. There wasn't a single gram of fat on his body and he also had clearly lost muscular mass. Just a few pounds less and she would have labeled him as thin. The few millimeters of hair on his head took some getting used to and she guessed they'd sheared his head completely in order to measure his brainwaves and his hair had just started to grow again. She asked herself what other humiliations he had been forced to endure. A wave of compassion struck her and she again felt tears well up in her eyes but her tears were held in check by the righteous rage that boiled up inside her.

Her eyes reached his arms and the sight that greeted her intensified both her sympathy and her anger. Drug addicts often looked like this, their arms pricked all over by injection needles and littered with hematomas. Beth didn't want to think about how often in a day someone had poked around on his skin to inject him with some substances. And even here, with his friends, it wasn't possible to deliver him from this torture. At this moment there was still a catheter in his left arm through which an electrolyte solution was running into his body. An empty bag which was hanging on the drip showed that he had also been supplied with blood a short while ago.

Beth had overheard the men agree upon taking turns every three hours, keeping watch at Mick's bedside. Meanwhile, Peterson had gotten a day bed set up in Mick's room so that he would be able to help immediately if Mick had another fit. Josef had taken over the first shift and had tried to persuade Beth to get some sleep. She had refused but had fallen asleep later out of exhaustion. Sometime after that, Josef had taken her to the other room and laid her on the bed.

Beth looked around quickly. In the darkest corner of the room she caught sight of the professor's shape, lying on his day bed, covered with a quilt. He had stirred when she'd entered the room but was now lying there totally motionless. There was no one else here, a clear sign that someone had slept through his shift.

Beth jerked when Mick suddenly stirred. She held her breath for a few seconds until he lay on his back again and made no more movement.

"Mick?" she said very softly after a long moment of hesitation. Although she knew it was probably better to let him sleep so that he would have the strength to recover from all the exertions he had endured, her yearning for him was so terribly strong.

"He can't hear you," a voice said behind her causing her to jerk and look around in shock. Peterson sat up on his cot and blinked tiredly at her. Obviously he wasn't as fast sleep as she had thought.

"And he won't wake soon. I've given him a sedative to help him sleep so that he isn't disturbed by nightmares. A long, dreamless sleep will be best to help him to regain his strength."

Beth just stared at the professor blankly. Even if he was now on their side it didn't change the fact that he had been one of the people who had tortured Mick so cruelly. And human Mick's reaction had clearly shown that he linked only horror and pain to this man. No matter how much the vampire in Mick needed him, she couldn't be very friendly to him. There were too many unanswered questions and she had so much anger inside of her.

"Can you answer a question for me?" Beth replied as calmly as possible and gently sat down on the end of the bed.

"I can try," Peterson responded and tried to smile.

"Did you know Mick was searching for you? That Diana had engaged him to find you?" Beth attentively studied Peterson's face while speaking and noticed that this question made him more than a little uneasy. He avoided her eyes and nervously plucked at his shirt.

"In the helicopter you said that Mick has been the ideal subject for your research," Beth continued coolly, "that he had all the makings of a success. So, was it a happy coincidence for you and a misfortune for him, or did they lure him into a trap with that whole abduction story? Was it all about making him disappear, preferably without causing a stir?"

Silence. For a long while Peterson was unable to bring himself to look into her eyes again and she thought this could be considered as his answer. But then he lifted his gaze and looked directly at her, full of remorse.

"Actually, this is all my fault," he said ever so quietly. "I'd had enough of these cruel experiments. I didn't want to do them any longer, didn't want to have more dead vampires to answer for. But they wouldn't let me go even when I explained to them that there were no achievements to be had with these experiments because the person I would need for them to succeed doesn't exist." He took a deep breath and went on. "Then they asked me what kind of person it would have to be, and because I thought that there was no vampire who would fit the criteria that maybe I could save all the other vampires, I told them that the vampire would have to be one who's not more than 100 years and not less than 50 years old, one who has the AO negative blood type and had once been inoculated with a certain serum." He gave a hysterical laugh. "I didn't even _think_ about lying because the idea that there was someone like that seemed so terribly absurd to me that I presumed I would soon be set free. And then they brought Mick to me." Peterson inhaled shakily and Beth was almost sympathetic when she saw tears shimmering in his eyes. The memories of the things that had happened seemed to be more painful to him than she would have guessed them to be.

"Then it had been a trap," she managed to say very quietly.

"You must believe me when I say I didn't want that to happen, Miss Turner," the professor said with a choked voice. "But I couldn't stop it because the whole time I was their prisoner as well."

He looked at her full of despair but Beth remained, at least outwardly, relentless, cool and poised.

"Why didn't you simply refuse to experiment with Mick?" she inquired.

"You don't know these people," he responded shaking his head. "If there is anything in the world they can blackmail you with they'll find it. Plus, I want to live, as pathetic and contemptible as I may appear to you at this moment."

"That means you didn't have any personal interest in continuing the research?" she asked in a voice that clearly showed she didn't believe a word of it.

Peterson gazed at her pensively. "I won't lie to you, Beth, I am a scientist through and through and I've worked for such a long time now trying to find a medicine to delay aging and it's illnesses, to prolong mortality, and I would take every chance to get closer to my goal. But I would never have killed people for it, _never_. I wasn't the only doctor who has working in the laboratories, the most able one, but not the only one. They would have experimented with Mick anyway and probably have quickly killed him."

"So it was a blessing that it was you who administered to him?" she replied scornfully.

"I tried to save him!" he countered even more agitated. "You don't know what I've risked to keep him physically and mentally alive! I tried to help him escape and when it went wrong and they almost killed him, I decided to escape along with him. It's the only reason you were able to find him!"

"And you didn't do that just because you wanted to keep your research findings?" She looked at him skeptically, although she was beginning to have doubts.

"No, for God's sake!" Peterson said so loudly that it caused Mick to stir in his sleep again.

Beth held her breath, but he didn't open his eyes and soon relaxed again and went back to breathing deeply.

Beth exhaled noisily and then looked at the professor again.

"So, I should think of you as a nice, idealistic scientist who was forced through difficult circumstances to do cruel things to other people," she concluded from his words.

Peterson let out a deep sigh. "No, you should not. I just want you to see me as a human who has made big mistakes that he regrets profoundly. I don't even want you to forgive me. All I want is to get the chance to atone for the things I've done to Mick."

"And what _did_ you do to him?" Beth voiced the question that had been preying on her mind for a long time now, while at the same time she was so afraid of what she'd hear that she wasn't even sure if she really wanted to know the answer. Nevertheless, she stayed firm. "What exactly did you do to him?"

"That's difficult to explain."

"Try it." She gave him a look that told him clearly she was ready to hear the answer to this question.

Peterson skimmed one hand over his face, stood up and walked over to Mick's bed. For a period of several rapid heartbeats his eyes rested on Mick's face then he turned to Beth again.

"What do you know about vampires, Beth?" he asked, surprising her.

She furrowed her brows thoughtfully and shrugged her shoulders. "Not much. Just the usual stuff. That they drink blood, that they can't bear sunlight for a long time, that they sleep in freezers and possess self-healing powers which make them almost immortal. And they don't age."

"And what do you think is so special about all that?"

The professor's question confused her and she found it difficult not to show it outwardly.

"What is _not_ special about it?" she replied, frowning. "There's nothing else like this in this world. It's unnatural, like a miracle."

"See, that's completely wrong," Peterson told her with a slight smile. "Or we would have to say that our whole world is full of miracles. Just think about all the things nature, in its unlimited diversity, has created in the course of time. There are creatures that can fly, including fish. Others who hibernate in wintertime and cool down almost completely without dying. Animals that can adjust the color of their skin to their surrounding and become nearly invisible. Others can breathe in water as well as on shore for they have both lungs _and_ gills. Bats fly easily by night with the help of an inborn ultrasound system and some fish species use electricity they produce within their bodies to defend themselves against attackers or to stun their prey. Furthermore, there are long-lived insects and mammals that live on blood and other life forms which could, theoretically, live forever given the right living conditions; like a certain jellyfish species." While speaking he had paced about the room and had now returned back to her.

"If you look at it that way, the whole of nature, the whole of life on this planet is one single marvel," he went on enthusiastically. "Because all living forms have the ability to adapt themselves in a fabulous way to the circumstances in which they live. They perform these miracles in their struggle for survival; they change in the course of time and in many surprising ways while doing so. The reason for all this can be explained in just one word: Evolution."

"But, but vampires are not the product of Evolution," Beth countered. "They are humans at first and then change into vampires in some mysterious way."

"That's true," the professor admitted instantly. "They change, but not in a mysterious way."

"Dr. Kendlroe said vampirism is sort of an illness."

"And there he's right," he agreed with her and plopped down onto the armchair next to Mick's bed. "But first and foremost, one has to ask what kind of illness it is and where it comes from. In this case, the answers to both questions are in fact very closely linked to one other."

Beth lifted her brows and looked at the old man invitingly.

"There are a few legends surrounding vampires," Peterson spoke a bit more verbosely, "and it's very difficult to find out which one you should trace and which ones to ignore. I've dealt very intensely with several of them and been part of some expeditions, but without the support and work of a good friend of mine I would have never come across the essence, the truth about vampirism."

"Which is?" Beth asked impatiently for she had many more questions in mind which she needed answered.

"Several thousand years ago there once was an undiscovered species, closely related to the human race, which possessed extraordinary qualities. They owned an unbelievably strong immune system and were able to recover from serious injuries within an extremely short period of time. To this you can add an exceedingly long lifespan, the absence of any symptoms of aging and the ability to accumulate a great deal of energy and to release it as superhuman strength."

"Let me guess," Beth interrupted him, bored. "They lived off blood and couldn't bear sunlight."

Peterson had to smirk. "No," he said and managed to surprise her again. "Neither the one nor the other. At least, not at the beginning. The _Nigong_, as they were called in the legend, admittedly were more active at twilight but they lived like humans; they ate meat, plants and fruits and were able to lie in the sun for a nap. Which they probably did frequently, for their bodies' functions ran on a low flame during the day and they drew energy from the sunlight."

"Then they weren't vampires?" Beth asked, amazed, and Peterson nodded confirmation.

"I want to explain it more exactly to you, because it's immensely important and will help you understand what has been done to Mick," Peterson added and bent forward to Beth propping his elbows on his knees. "The one thing that made the _Nigong_ so special was their ability to produce certain hormones and enzymes which were of inestimable value for the metabolism and the immune system." He stopped and scratched his temple thoughtfully. "Have you ever heard about the _Hibernation Induction Trigger_?"

Beth shook her head.

"That's a hormone discovered in the seventies in marmots and later in other animals as well," the professor explained rapidly. "This hormone, for example, enables bears to sleep over a number of months without suffering muscular wasting, which is actually impossible. Additionally, it also accelerates the healing process of accidental injuries, increases the durability of donor organs, decreases osteoporosis and also has a positive influence on patients with diabetes mellitus. A wonder hormone par excellence."

"And the _Nigong_ had this hormone as well?"

"Not the same one, but a similar one with much stronger effects," the professor went on excitedly his eyes shining with enthusiasm. Now the dedicated researcher and scientist was speaking. "If the individual was hurt or ill the body produced and released this hormone in great quantities. It made for an extremely fast healing of wounds and caused the body to produce more white blood cells. They could clone themselves a hundredfold to eliminate pathogens. At the same time, they used the red blood cells to reproduce themselves which caused the red blood cells to burst. The more hormones there were in the blood the more effectively the Nigong's bodies could repel any threat. Once the danger was averted, other cells produced blocking substances which froze the hormones and stopped their production. A decline in the body's temperature quickened this necessary braking process and equalized the energy balance again."

Beth felt the professor's excitement and fascination starting to spread to her. Her own thoughts were turning somersaults again and the most absurd ideas and conclusions regarding the development of vampires took shape in the back of her mind.

"What would happen if the blocking substances weren't produced?" she asked, trying not to sound too excited.

Peterson gave her an acknowledging smile. "That's exactly the right question. As the hormone attacks the red blood cells it would lead sooner or later to fierce anemia and then result in death unless the organism finds another way to stay alive."

"Evolution," it shot out of Beth, stunned, and the professor nodded.

"That means the first vampire developed due to a genetic defect?"

"Yes. Basically, yes. Some of the _Nigong_ obviously had difficulty in building these blocking substances and suffered from anemia. The legend says that they started to drink the blood of their own species one day, which wasn't particularly promising at first because the blood went into their stomachs and not their bloodstreams. But those who survived evolved so that they were able to take in other missing substances through their stomachs and the red blood cells through mechanisms in their jaws; the so called vampire fangs. These organisms shifted their nutrition almost totally to blood."

Beth absently touched her neck. "And the other _Nigongs_ just acquiesced in this?"

"No, of course not," Peterson said. "Obviously there had been many fights and the bloodsuckers were banished and scattered all over the world."

"And infected the humans," Beth added and the professor agreed with a nod of his head.

"It's not clear who started it or why," he went on, "but, yeah, they spread out and turned other humans into vampires."

Beth's gaze roamed over to Mick's shape. "He told me humans can only turn into vampires if they drink vampire blood."

"Yes," Peterson confirmed, "the hormones in the vampire's blood need to get into the human's bloodstream. But they're not confined to the blood circulation system. They become inactive once they've left it and die soon after that, but they're able to permeate membranes. When the human comes into direct contact with some still active hormones, even if it's just from the tongue, the hormones invade the bloodstream by the quickest way. There they reproduce, animated by the life-threatening state the host is in after the vampire's bite, and, unfortunately, attack their healing and defense mechanisms and also the red blood corpuscles, which leads to anemia."

Beth furrowed her brows pensively. "Why doesn't the human die since his body isn't accustomed to this?"

"Because the hormones and all the other strange substances in the vampire's blood have changed over time," the professor explained patiently. "They pass certain genetic information to their host's cells which change the host's metabolism within a very short time. It seems they don't want the host to die so they have evolved to prevent exactly that. They are very, very dominant and active and cause a lightning-fast metamorphosis into a vampire. The changed person is able to gain control of his anemia in just a few hours with the help of other people's blood. Naturally the whole process is a dangerous venture and to survive it you need quite a strong cardiovascular system and much strength. Many people die during their turning."

"And why is the human immune system not able to fight the hormones successfully?" Beth asked interested and had the feeling that she was working for a scientific magazine and conducting a highly explosive interview with one of the master spirits of medical research.

Peterson seemed to enjoy her questions for he continued almost enthusiastically: "Because they mimic the body's own substances very quickly and make the antibodies unable to detect them. The only thing which would be able to stop them is the blocking substance of the _Nigong_, which are only produced in _their_ own cells. But the _Nigong_ don't really exist anymore."

The reporter in Beth asked the conspicuous question before it could slip her mind. "Not_ really,_ anymore?" she asked instantly.

"Legend has it that they have since mixed with Homo sapiens," Peterson explained with an approving smile. "And we're very sure that the representatives of certain rare blood types are their heirs for they can easily be turned into vampires."

Beth raised her brows. "You mean AO negative?"

Peterson nodded again and Beth had many frantic thoughts at the same time that she attempted to assemble into new questions. AO negative was Mick's and her own blood type. The blood type that seemed to be hugely important for Peterson's research.

"What exactly is the _Legion's_ aim with their experiments?" she asked bluntly. "I mean, since they hate all vampires, it's hardly likely that they're searching for a cure for vampirism out of pure kindheartedness."

"They're not. Like me, they're searching for a serum to help _human_kind overcome their mortality and susceptibility to illnesses. That's what it's about."

That was exactly the answer Beth had expected and it was making her terribly angry. The _Legion_ was indeed an over-pious, self-righteous bunch…

"But isn't it enough to do their research with blood and then test the substances on humans?" she stood and angrily pushed her hair back behind her ears.

"They did," was the surprising answer. "But no matter how low the percentage of this hormone was used, it always produced a metamorphosis. And that didn't go hand in hand with the ethics and principles of the _Legion._"

Beth uttered a disparaging laugh and shook her head uncomprehendingly. "Ethics and principles…"

Peterson looked down, sheepishly. At least_ he _was ashamed of the crimes of those monsters.

"The idea was to find a serum that would destroy the bloodsucker while harnessing his positive strength for humans," he tried to explain more softly. "But we didn't succeed until recently. Through several connections in Europe we got hold of an herbal substance which could freeze the hormone in the blood and cause a temporary healing. But if the human gets badly injured or is affected with a deadly illness the hormones get reactivated and the game starts over again." He sighed resignedly. "It was soon obvious to me that we could make it last if we change the cells in the vampire's body genetically so that their bodies can produce the blocking substances and find the balance that was inherent in the _Nigong's_ bodies."

The message hidden in those harmless words caught her off guard. She had guessed it but was hoping to be wrong and had pushed it to the back of her mind. For the blink of an eye she just stared at the old man in front of her, open-mouthed.

"You've changed Mick's genetic makeup?!" erupted loudly out of her.

Peterson looked at her, scared, and raised both his hands in a defensive gesture. "I wouldn't express it that grossly," he said quickly. "We've changed the DNA of some of his _cells_ and we've also grafted in a few foreign cells"

Beth's blood slowly but surely began to boil in her veins. "Whose foreign cells?" she said through gritted teeth. She was sure if Josef had been a witness to their talk Peterson would be dangling high above the wooden floor by now and would once again be gasping for air. And it was doubtful that she would help the professor this time.

Peterson was obviously aware that he was treading on thin ice at the moment for he visibly hurried to give an answer to her question, although it was clearly unpleasant for him.

"Two years ago a research team for the_ Legion_ found a mummified body in South Africa. In examining it, they found out that it had been a descendant of the Nigong," he told her hastily. "We've intensely studied his genetic makeup and were able to find and reproduce important genetic information. These reproduced cells were used on Mick. His body readily accepted them. His body was the only one that did and now he's able to produce the blocking substances against the vampire hormones on his own but not always in suitable proportion. It seems as if the human inside him is very much in evidence."

Even if she didn't like to admit it, his answer calmed her down a little. "But the vampire is there still inside him," she uttered more as a statement than as a question.

"Yes," Peterson conceded reluctantly. That's one of the negative sides of this whole story. Somehow the foreign DNA also did something to Mick's vampire side. The vampire became stronger and wilder which is why we still have to depend on the herbal serum."

That explained why Vampire Mick was so different, so out of control. And it was a rather big problem, especially for their relationship. She didn't want to think about the difficulties lying ahead of her because of it. She thought briefly and then brought her attention back to the man sitting opposite her.

"You said Mick's different sides cannot live without each other," she brought up one of his remarks of the past day. "Why?"

Peterson inhaled deeply and again bent forward to her. "Because the vampire hormones need the red blood corpuscles that Mick is, through the Nigong DNA, able to produce in larger amounts than a normal human could produce. As a human he needs the vampire hormones for they bind with the blocking substances and tranquillize them which is absolutely necessary!"

Beth pricked up her ears. "That means the blocking substances can be dangerous for the human body?"

Peterson answered with a nod. "Yes. Most of all for the immune system, for if there are not enough vampire hormones in the blood, the blocking substances will also block the normal immune reactions of the human body. And without a well working immune system a human can't survive." His gaze roamed to Mick again.

"For the last month my task was it to bring Mick's constitution into balance so the human and the vampire don't threaten each other and he is able to live without needing medications, enzymes or any other outside substances. And that was a very difficult task to undertake. There have been several bad setbacks along the way and moments when he escaped death by a hair's breadth. After a certain point it got better and he got distinctly more stable and needed only an injection with the herbal serum for support every other day. But that wasn't enough for that complete moron, Gallagher." On Peterson's usually gentle face was now shown ice cold contempt and rage. "He wanted to implant additional cells because everything went too slowly for him and he was very afraid of the vampire in Mick. And then Mick killed two of his staff members during his attempt to escape and badly injured another. From this point on it didn't even seem to matter to him that Mick could die through this new implantation of foreign cells. So I escaped with Mick and now we're here."

Beth followed Peterson's gaze and for a long moment they looked at Mick's motionless, totally relaxed form. He probably hadn't heard a bit of their long talk.

The flood of information had overwhelmed Beth and she needed time to process all of it. For an instant she felt the desire to lie down next to Mick, to cuddle up to him and to watch him sleep for a while. But, unfortunately, the professor was still in the room and there was still an urgently important question she had to ask him. "What will happen to Mick now?"

Peterson thoughtfully wrinkled his brow further. "That's a very interesting question which unfortunately I can't answer completely. To tell the truth, I really don't know the answer," he admitted after some hesitation. "First and foremost, I have to bring him back to the place we had reached in the laboratory and then hope he'll get better from there." He leaned back in his armchair with an expression of deep concentration on his face.

"The ideal would be to help his body to find the optimal balance between his vampire and his human side which would make it possible for him to stay in a human state for most of his life," he said loudly. "He could eat normal food, sleep in a bed and savor sunlight without any difficulties. He could lead a totally normal life and he would neither age nor get any serious illnesses and would have a great chance to also survive really serious injuries."

Beth wasn't a pessimist, but now she really struggled to believe in such a miracle. Fate hadn't treated her very well this last year so why would that suddenly change?

"In any case, that means that it also can go in a totally different way, or at least, not so well, right?" she asked instantly.

"Yes," Peterson responded a bit reluctantly. Obviously he preferred to be an optimist.

"It's just that we are treading a path with Mick that no one else has ever walked before," he admitted. "Everything that happens from now on is new to me and will not be predictable. Nevertheless, I'm very optimistic as the preliminary results were so good that we're allowed to hope. And I'm certain that I can, at least, prevent him from dying."

That was _really_ a statement! Nevertheless Beth looked at the man in front of her full of skepticism. "Is that a promise?" she asked and, to her own surprise, got an instantly warm, honest smile.

"Yes, it is," he said full of confidence, and he managed with his positive attitude to bolster her up and to give her back the belief that all of them together would be able to master the upcoming problems.


	17. Newborn

_*__Hi everyone! It's weekend again and my new chapter is ready (translated and beta-read –a lot of thanks to my dear Jo!!). I thank you so much for your feedback. That's just so motivating! Hope, you'll like this chapter as well. Best wishes, Jenna* _

* * *

**N****ewborn**

* * *

"_To be born is just the one thing – to come alive a totally different one."_

_(Anke Maggauer-Kirsche)_

* * *

To feel shattered, tired and unbalanced after getting up was really new to me, for those weaknesses usually belonged to the domain of the human, which I had luckily left behind ages ago. Of course vampires had their whims as well. I was a walking example of that, but usually those states were confined to just the emotional side and not to the physical one. We are able to recover much faster and stay that way longer than humans even if we've had an exceedingly exhausting night, but this time was different.

I knew full well that my physical problems actually couldn't be real and I probably imagined they were due to the emotional stress of the last days, but I really felt… shitty when I shuffled with unusually clumsy steps for a vampire into the kitchen-living room. The word alone created claustrophobic feelings within me due to our 'cozy' housing arrangements. I instantly drew upon the blood reserves of the refrigerator which had started working again a few hours ago.

A mixture of estrogens, the slowly strengthening smell of perfume and human blood wafted to me in a tender gust from the living area and made the prepackaged blood I was drinking with deep satisfaction instantly taste twice as good because it was much easier for me to imagine I had sunk my teeth into the neck of a beautiful woman. I quickly emptied the bag and then headed to the couch in the middle of the room on which Beth obviously had sat down, exhausted, a little while ago to treat herself to a hot fruit tea. She was lying on the couch curled into a fetal position with her pretty head pillowed on her left hand, and was sleeping peacefully while the tea on the wonky coffee table gave off its heat in the form of hot steam vapor curling into the air. So she couldn't have lain here for too long and I couldn't prevent a soft smile from creeping to my lips while I was watching her lovely face. I hadn't counted on her sleep being so light that she would wake up because of it. She sat up with a start and before she had really opened her eyes she uttered a panicked "Mick?!"

I soothingly raised my hands. "Everything's all right, Beth," I said quickly and sat down next to her to negate the impression that I was on the move to someplace else. "He's fine. August and I were in his room just a few minutes ago."

She blinked a few times and then shook her head laughing at herself. "You really overplayed your hand, Beth," she murmured to herself and I had to laugh as well.

"You're not the only one," I replied astoundingly honestly and straightened my wrinkled silk shirt. The circumstances in which we had to live at the moment were really annoying. I had to wear the same clothes two times. When did I do this the last time? _Did_ I ever do this?

"Did you sleep well at least?" she turned to me.

"Oh, yeah, of course," I responded overenthusiastically, "between the first and the second power outage the freezer in which I had been lying really cooled down. It was pure relaxation!"

Beth looked at me with honest sympathy. "I'm so sorry, Josef," she said softly and I almost regretted my cynical tone.

"It got a bit better later," I added quickly. "And this afternoon Logan's friend will arrive along with some other things we urgently need here and everything will get a lot better, I hope."

Beth nodded mutely and let her gaze roam through the unpretentious room. "Who's actually the owner of this place?"

Did she really need to ask? The answer almost embarrassed me. "It's mine," I admitted reluctantly and her brows rose up in surprise.

"You own a farm in Mexico?" she asked unbelievingly and I looked at my fingernails for a few seconds. A nice manicure wouldn't be bad right now.

"Why?" Beth asked tenaciously and I was forced to look at her again.

"Because I'm a very smart person," I replied slightly arrogantly. "Sometimes a vampire has no other choice than to hightail it out of human society for a certain period of time and who would think to search for him on a farm in Mexico?"

Beth met me with an understanding smile. "… in a semi-desert climate," she added.

"Exactly," I just said and tried not to think about what the outside temperatures must be today. Of course, it was also quite warm inside the house by now but the building was in the shade of several bigger trees and that had kept the temperature bearable for all of us, including the vampires.

"Does anyone else actually live here?" Beth now inquired and it dawned on me that she hadn't really had the time to see the terrain on which this house was built. And even if there had been the opportunity to do so, I doubted she would have grasped it. It was a miracle that she was sitting with me in the living room rather than staying by Mick's side.

"There are a few other buildings around here and one of them is occupied by humans," I explained and noticed that I surprised her again with that answer.

"And do they know that…" She gestured vaguely in my direction.

"They're hosting vampires?" I finished her question with a smirk. "You won't believe it but I also have human contacts who know about my specifics. They don't have a problem with it because they can't afford to."

"That means they owe you something," Beth concluded from my words.

"Yes, both Mick and me," I said smiling smugly.

"And you can trust them?" Obviously it was difficult for Beth to imagine that humans who were pressured through some unredeemed debts would be reliable accomplices in emergency situations and actually she was right about this point. She couldn't know that there was no pressure and the family who harbored us was more than just a 'contact' to Mick and me. We had a common history which had led to tremendous trust in each other.

"You can," I just said and with that the topic was over for me. In the last year Beth had gained enough insight into my inner life and also into my so hated soft side, actually _more_ than enough insight. So I lay back reluctantly on the moldy smelling couch and quickly tried to change the subject.

"When did you wake up?" I asked Beth with interest.

She stumbled slightly due to the rapid change of subject but then responded to my question. "I think about 12.00 p.m. but I can't say for sure as I didn't look at the clock."

It was late afternoon by now and the sun was throwing its warm light into the dark room. It was a pretty sight for beings who liked the sun but for me the rays of the sun were still too bright and most of all too hot.

"Was Mick awake in between?" I asked and Beth reacted by shaking her head.

"Peterson gave him a sedative once during the night and he said it would do Mick good to rest for a while."

I uttered a scornful sound. "Peterson, he's turning Mick into a junkie."

Beth looked pensively at me. "I talked with him for a while and he told me a lot of very interesting things."

"Let me guess, about the 'vampire-illness'," I drew those silly inverted commas into the air with annoyance, "and his great research?"

She tilted her head a bit like Mick did sometimes when he didn't know what to think about my behavior. "Then he has told you about it as well?" she probed and I nodded, bored. Of course it had all been very interesting and revealing but I wasn't yet willing to admit it in front of someone else.

"August and I talked with him after you went to bed," I explained teasing her a bit regarding her 'going-off-to-sleep'. I gloated over the irritation flaring up in her eyes. But she was under control and instead of getting angry she hit back with cool composure.

"And how does it feel to know you are such a poor, ill creature?" she asked with a friendly smile and precisely struck my nerve. Damn it! Why was_ I_ now the person who was vexed?

To my relief at that exact moment Peterson entered the room. The person who really deserved to have me vent my rage on him. I knitted my brows, incensed, and angrily flashed my eyes at him as he went into the kitchen area to pour himself some tea.

"Did anyone give you permission to leave Mick's room?" I grumbled and he looked up, astonished. He looked terribly tired with dark rings beneath his eyes and skin almost as pale as a vampire's skin.

"I didn't know I needed permission to do that," he replied calmly taking his cup into both hands to warm his fingers as he came over to us, letting my disapproving glance just deflect off him.

"Well, you know it now," I remarked coolly. "Is there someone with him?"

Peterson sucked in the air, audibly annoyed, and sat down in one of the shabby armchairs opposite us. "It won't kill him to sleep unattended for a few minutes," he responded as calmly as he could. It seemed as if the hours of wakefulness and disturbances were also taking their toll on him. He looked distinctly more harried which brought me enjoyment.

"And if he wakes?" I probed and put on a terribly reproachful gaze.

"He won't," Peterson replied very firmly. "His body is much too weakened after all the stress of the past days so even if his mind starts to wake his body will claim the rest it needs and won't allow him to do anything more than to turn from one side to the other."

I snorted disrespectfully. "You don't know Mick. He's much tougher than you think. And if there's one thing he can't seem to do it's to be reasonable or to have any regard for his own physical constitution."

To my surprise Peterson met me with open anger. "And _you_ have to finally say good bye to the thought that Mick is still the same person he was a year ago. Do you honestly think that one year in solitary confinement and experimental laboratories hasn't left its mark on his both physical body and his psyche?"

His words caused me so much pain that I just stared at him open-mouthed and wasn't able to make a single sound. All my fears regarding Mick that I had successfully pushed to the backmost corner of my mind suddenly burst forth again.

"Does the term 'Acute Stress Disorder' mean anything to you?" he added a bit more softly as Beth was also looking distraughtly at him. "People who've gone through traumatic near death experiences usually have great difficulty in coping with what's happened to them. They get into a state in which they are subject to strong emotional mood swings and often have the feeling that they are no longer themselves. Add to that the fact that his body is still not completely healed. It would be better for us if he sleeps for a long while so that later we will have the strength to help him with his possible emotional problems."

"_You_ want to help him?!" I snapped at the professor wrathfully, fighting tooth and nail the 'we' he had dared to use. "It was _you_ who did this to him! He hates you! Didn't you notice how he'd reacted to you?!"

"Yes, I did, but it has nothing to do with hate," Peterson countered upset. "He's heavily traumatized and scared of anything that reminds him of the time in the laboratories. That's normal. And besides, I did everything humanly possible to prevent him from losing it. I secretly visited him at night and had long talks with him, I smuggled daily papers and photos into the laboratory for him so that he wouldn't lose his connection to the outside world and I manipulated his medication so that he was a lot less drugged than the other vampires. I did everything, _everything_ I could to keep him sane. But under such circumstances trauma simply cannot be prevented!"

I went on glaring at him hatefully but didn't know what to reply and seemingly words failed Beth as well. We had both been so happy that Mick was alive that we had stopped to think about what effects the year in captivity might have on his psyche.

"I don't want to say that Mick cannot get back his old self," the professor said quietly. "But it'll be a long and stressful journey, which will demand a lot from the people who love him. How quickly Mick will recover depends on how tough he is. Some people can bear much more than others, they grow stronger through traumatic events which would cause most people to break down. But in this case I'm just not sure what will happen."

"Why?" Beth now asked quietly and I noticed the same unbearable concern in her eyes that was unpleasantly stirring up my insides.

"Because of the processes in his body Mick won't really be able to relax in the near future," Peterson explained. "It's all very complicated but for the most part he'll be waking up in a body he doesn't know any more. It's like…" He intensely searched for a fitting comparison and finally his eyes lit up. "Yes, it's like a child who has just come into the world, like a newborn. He first has to get to know his body bit by bit in order to learn to assess his own needs and to realize how to help himself to feel better. Mick now has to supply the needs of two creatures and at the beginning it will be immensely difficult for him to be able to distinguish them from each other and to deal with each of them in the right way. That will cause a great deal of stress which can also have a negative effect on his psyche."

I shook my head vehemently and stood up to get rid of the anger boiling up in me and to stop myself from lunging at Peterson. "Mick is strong." I continued to shake my head. "He survived a war without breaking down afterwards. He was turned into a vampire against his will and was able to accept it reasonably well. He'll succeed this time as well."

"I hope so, too," Peterson admitted and I felt that he was serious. "I just want you to be prepared and to know that he'll not be easy to handle even when he's recovered."

"Thanks," I said with a fake smile, "but that's…" I broke off and frowned for I had heard a peculiar sound from the hall. It sounded like the slapping of bare feet on the wooden floor. The steps sounded very irregular and slow and my sensitive ears caught something else; heavy, strained breathing.

Although I subconsciously knew who would appear I froze completely when my best friend's slim shape showed up in the entrance of the living room. For a moment he held onto the door frame with great difficulty to prevent himself from falling. He was terribly pale, breathed heavily and the unaccustomed movement was visibly draining him of his sparse strength. But something was driving him forward, a deep need for something that was very important for his human side. His harried gaze flew across us as if we didn't exist and then fixed on the rusty sink in the kitchen area. The relief that overcame him was almost physically palpable and caused me simultaneously to wake up and to begin to move toward Mick. Beth, who had sat with her back to him but had followed my stare, now lifted one hand to her mouth, shocked. From the corner of my eye I could see Beth and Peterson synchronously jump up when I hurried to Mick, who was plunging rather than walking to the sink. He saved himself from a collision with the ground because he reached out his hands for the rim of the basin and launched himself onto it. His arms quivered under his own weight as he brought himself into a halfway upright position and opened the valve with shaking fingers.

I felt an unusually strong urge to help him but before I was able to get to him he reached out a hand in my direction in an explicitly refusing and braking gesture that caused me along with Beth and Peterson to stop immediately. Mick didn't take the time to check if we had stayed where we were but again propped himself on the rim of the basin, held his other hand under the water and drank in the cool liquid so greedily that one would almost think he would die of thirst at any moment. But seemingly his body had a will of its own. After just a few seconds he started to cough and his stomach began to revolt against the haste with which it was filled. Without wanting to he began to choke and all he had thought to be safely in his body emptied into the sink. That strength-sapping act was just too much for him and Mick's legs visibly gave out. Owing to my quick vampire reflexes I caught him before he painfully hit the ground. In a fluid motion I grabbed his arm, pulled it around my shoulders and wrapped one of my arms around his waist setting him on his feet again. Surprisingly, he was able to stand with my help but instead of waiting until his circulation improved he reached out his hand for the water once again with an addict's fanatical expression in his eyes. Beth appeared at his other side and stopped his hand tenderly while Peterson was giving instructions behind me.

"Don't let him drink. You've seen for yourself that he can't handle it!"

I was too preoccupied in struggling with my friend's will to get angry with the professor. I held Mick as cautiously as possible while Beth placed herself directly in front of him touching his cheek with one hand and drawing his attention to her by doing so. Just one look into her eyes was enough to get him to stop and to calm down a bit. The racing beat of his heart which was echoing in my ears unnaturally loudly told me that his need for water was quite urgent. Beth seemed to feel the same or at least to see it in his eyes.

"You can drink something," she said very calmly, purposely ignoring the professor's instant protests. "But only very slowly and with my help, okay?"

After a moment of hesitation Mick managed to nod half-heartedly and showed us that he was responsive and able to digest the things we were telling him. That was amazing progress and an almost moronic happy smile spread on my lips while Beth turned off the valve under my friend's starving gaze and grabbed one of the water bottles from the shelf instead.

"This won't turn out well, this won't turn out well," Peterson murmured and paced up and down behind us. Maybe he was Mick's doctor but we were calling the shots here and sometimes doctors are wrong. Peterson had proved it with his assertion just a few minutes ago that Mick wouldn't wake up. It seemed as if I still knew my friend better than this would-be psychologist.

Beth turned back to us and I had to hold on with more strength in order to hold Mick back for his eyes were virtually glued to the liquid in Beth's hand. She hesitated and searched my gaze for she wasn't totally certain if she was doing the right thing. I nodded my head for her to approach him and to let his chapped lips have contact with the glass. She let him take just two gulps and then drew her hand back quickly. Mick uttered a protesting sound and tried to grab her, but she ducked him deftly.

"Slowly," she said once more very distinctly and waited a moment.

I could hear Mick's stomach gurgling loudly but the warm water seemed to make him feel better.

"More," he uttered with a hoarse cawing and looked at Beth so pleadingly that she couldn't help but oblige. This time he grabbed both the glass and her hand in order to prevent her from pulling the glass back too soon. Beth raised her brows in surprise. She searched my gaze unnoticed by Mick and mouthed the word 'cold' noiselessly but clearly.

I had been so occupied with steadying Mick that I'd forgotten to watch for the signs his body was giving off. Besides, as a vampire it was easy to do this. Because the temperature in the house was very high and Peterson and August had to examine the progress of his partially healed wounds, Mick was wearing only a pair of my expensive pajama pants. Now that I was able to concentrate on him I sensed that his body temperature exceeded the normal human range a bit and he was perspiring, a distinct signal that the unaccustomed motion took a heavy toll on him. The fingers he used to hold fast to my shoulders were indeed fairly cold. I could feel it even through my shirt. All in all, it implied that he urgently needed to get back into his bed as quickly as possible, before his circulation sagged totally.

"That's enough for now," I said with mild severity when Mick had emptied the glass completely and reluctantly let go of Beth. I could hear Peterson's relieved breath but didn't pay him any further attention.

"I'm taking you back to bed," I murmured and tightened my grip once again to prevent Mick was carrying too much of his own body weight. He watched Beth putting away the glass with a burning gaze and somehow I couldn't escape the feeling that it wasn't water he was longing for any longer. A scrutinizing look into his eyes told me that I wasn't wrong. The blue had become nominally lighter and although Mick was terribly exhausted his gaze was distinctly brighter and more focused than before. Beth needed to stop supplying his basic needs or he would soon consider her to be just his food source.

However, she didn't seem to be aware of it for she approached us again to help me with Mick.

"Uh, Beth, could you open the door of his room and make the bed?" I tried to head her off because as she drew nearer I could hear Mick's heartbeat speeding up tremendously. I certainly didn't feel like finding out if it was his human or his vampire side which was reacting to her so intensely.

For an instant Beth looked at me confused, threw a worried glance at Mick and to my relief finally nodded. While I was moving forward with my human appendage, careful to take the pressure off him as much as possible, Beth quickly ran ahead of us. The movements strained Mick terribly. He was breathing heavily and squinting his eyes from time to time as if he was in pain. I asked myself how he had managed to get from his room to the kitchen, but I knew that he would hold it against me if I tried to carry him. He was much too awake for that to happen. And the Mick St. John_ I_ knew owned an oversized pride, which was in some cases harmful to him.

Nevertheless, I was surprised when he grabbed the collar of my shirt with his other hand the moment Beth disappeared into his room and pulled himself very close to my face. For a heartbeat his hot, heavy breath blew into my ear. "Josef…," he said breathlessly and fear was evident in his rough voice. "Josef… don't let her… alone," two more heavy breaths, "… with me."

I knew immediately what he meant and nodded understandingly. "We have a lock on that, Mick," I replied as calmly as possible and asked myself if my shirt would survive the trip back into Mick's room. His fingers dug into the soft fabric so tightly that it made a sad rasping noise.

"Promise," he whispered and I looked at him. His face was so close to mine that I could see the multicolored specks in his irises which caused his eyes to change color under different lighting conditions.

"I do," I responded just as softly as my friend and those simple words seemed to make the fear and sorrow fade out of his eyes almost completely and he was able to relax a little and to finally let go of my shirt. The rest of the way back into his room was without incident. Admittedly, Peterson bugged me with his well-meant advice and overstated sorrow but I didn't pay any further attention to him, instead I concentrated on the information Mick was conveying to me unknowingly through the reactions of his body. To be equipped with extremely sensitive senses was immensely advantageous in situations like this. I could check his pulse and heartbeat without the help of any equipment and also detect feelings such as fear and pain without straining myself too much. Mick was no longer afraid as I cautiously helped him to sit down on his bed. But it was difficult for him to breathe and he was so exhausted by now that he let himself slump onto his side and then lay still with his eyes open. Something in his body was clearly causing trouble as he was in pain, which actually was no surprise considering the injuries he had suffered only a few days ago. Peterson also seemed to be aware of it for he squeezed past me and crouched down in front of Mick to be at eye level with him. I was somewhat surprised when Mick didn't react this time with panic to the professor but just returned his stare dispassionately.

"Where does it hurt?" Peterson asked concerned. "Is it your stomach?"

Mick's reaction was barely recognizable as a headshake but we understood him anyway.

"His lung," I said with deadly certainty. There was still a faint sound that didn't belong there.

Mick agreed with me by giving a slight nod and Peterson stood up to grab the stethoscope lying on the nightstand. Again my friend surprised me by obligingly turning over onto his back and allowing the professor to look at him. Why was he suddenly no longer afraid of him, his tormentor and declared enemy? Even though I didn't want it to happen, it made me angry to see them as such a well attuned team. All of a sudden Mick struck me as being submissive and broken and I just couldn't bear to see him like that.

"Try to breathe in and out deeply even if it hurts," the professor said softly and pressed the stethoscope to his chest. Beth, who already sat at Mick's side, again took hold of his hand and his eyes automatically searched her gaze as if it was easier to bear the pain when he was looking in her eyes. And it seemed to help for although Mick's cheek muscles admittedly twitched treacherously he didn't make any sound. One more time he repeated this process then Peterson eased up on him and rubbed his pointed chin.

"It's not healed completely yet," he explained to us. "He probably wasn't in his vampire state long enough to heal it totally. But to be sure I would have to X-ray him somehow."

"That's no problem," I said off-handedly and tried to conceal that the Professor's statement unsettled me a bit. "I've arranged for a portable X-ray unit to be brought here, if that's sufficient."

Peterson nodded officiously. "Absolutely, don't worry it's not so bad. I just have to know exactly what's going on to better adjust the medical treatment to help him heal."

I nodded a bit absent-mindedly for I suddenly caught a muffled roaring outside at some distance, a sound only an approaching helicopter would make. I frowned pensively and adjusted my sense of hearing to that sound while I watched Beth rise and caringly cover Mick's now slightly trembling body with a blanket. She then sat down very close to him on the edge of his bed and took in a deep breath. Mick just looked at her, sinking deeply into her warm gaze and becoming more and more drowsy. Meanwhile the vampire inside him had completely withdrawn again and her closeness seemed to calm him completely.

One less problem I had to take care of. And a good thing, too, for the engine noise came closer and seemed to bear down on our grounds. I turned around and walked to the window while my thoughts were spinning. Daniel had flown to L.A. yesterday evening to get a few important things and pick up Logan's electrician friend but I didn't expect him to come back this soon.

"What's that noise?" I heard Beth ask behind me.

One look into the blue sky told me that this was not my helicopter that was descending and my heart beat rapidly. I cringed when the door to Mick's room was ripped open and August accompanied by Logan, bolted in.

"There's a helicopter touching down right now!" August informed me with distinct panic in his voice. Beth jumped to her feet looking scared and Peterson looked at me his gaze full of fear.

"I know," I responded shortly and noticed worriedly that the turmoil was waking Mick from his light sleep. He turned drowsily onto his side propped himself up on one arm and sat up groggily. He blinked a few times, confused when he noticed there were more people in his room.

"Hey! Someone has risen from the dead!" Logan burst out joyfully and tried to take a step toward Mick but I grabbed his arm in time.

"You're coming with me!" I said firmly and pulled him to the door. I didn't need to talk to August. He knew how hairy the situation outside would get if the helicopter belonged to the _Legion_ and that I needed all the help I could get. Strangely, I didn't really believe it was the _Legion_ because it was just _one_ small helicopter which didn't fit with how theyhad previously operated.

"Can you manage this alone?" I asked Beth and Peterson who answered my question with unanimous nods of their heads. And that satisfied me. From the corner of my eye I witnessed that Mick tried to stand up but was held by Peterson and Beth. Then I rushed through the corridor with a throbbing heart and highly concentrated senses. Even though I was still in the house I smelled it, an intense scent that preceded the people who were hopping out of the helicopter at this minute. There was only a small circle of people who owned this scent: very, very old vampires like… Lance.


	18. Ancient blood

_*__Wow! So many reviews! I thank you so, so much. Your feedback is just great and it helps a lot to go on with writing and translating. This time I had again some help. Austraingirl33 translated this chapter (hugs and kisses) and Jo, you're such a great beta reader. I thank you so much. I hope you'll all like the new chapter, and would be happy about every comment you leave for me. Best wishes, Jenna* _

* * *

**Ancient blood **

With Peterson's help it wasn't difficult for Beth to press Mick back down onto the pillows although he struggled against it with panic showing in his eyes. He just lacked the energy to really make a stand against them.

"Mick, calm down," she said kindly. Her left hand rested on his chest to hold him down as she soothingly stroked his forehead and cheek with the other one. With difficulty he tore his eyes away from the door through which Josef had disappeared and his eyes flew back to her face. He gave the impression of a hunted animal that was looking desperately for a way to escape and was unable to calm down in its panic.

"Where... where is he... going?" Mick uttered with a scratchy voice between hectic breaths. "He must stay... must..."

He squinted his eyes as he tried hard to bring himself back under control. But he seemed to fail because when he opened his eyelids again there was still so much fear in his gaze that Beth was sure he would try to get up again at any moment.

"He will come back soon," she said hastily, hoping Mick didn't notice how tense she was. "He just has to take care of something."

Even though she tried hard to focus on Mick, she couldn't help but listen carefully to every noise that came from the other rooms; noise that would tell her to grab Mick and somehow disappear. Grab Mick. Considering his desolate condition and how tall and heavy he was it was really a pretty ridiculous idea. She didn't consider herself a frail woman, but Peterson wasn't a tall, strong man and certainly wouldn't be of much help.

"Beth," Mick said with difficulty and her heart leaped when his hand covered hers on his cheek. His fingers closed around hers and just held them for a moment. She felt as if it was half of an eternity since she had heard him speak her name and she couldn't prevent her throat from tightening a bit and slight goose bumps from running down her spine as he said her name once again.

"Beth... you need... you need to leave!" he gasped powerlessly and breathed heavily as his gaze became more urgent. "You... you need to leave."

She frowned, confused. The words he spoke were totally contradictory to the longing in his eyes which he couldn't conceal from her. She knew exactly what drove him to his words but was unwilling to allow the fear of the monster inside him to come between them once again. So she just shook her head and caressed his rough cheek with her thumb.

"Everything will be alright, Mick," she replied as calmly as possible and noticed from the corner of her eye that Peterson had reached for his syringe bag. "I'll look after you."

"No. No!" Mick countered frantically and the pressure of his fingers became painfully stronger. "Please… Beth! You must… you must leave!"

"I'm staying with you!" she replied emphatically. "You are no danger to me!" She wasn't able do leave him but she turned unwillingly away from Mick because she _had_ to turn to Peterson who was hastily preparing a syringe.

"Stop it!" she snapped at him more roughly than she had planned and the professor flinched, startled.

"He's having a panic attack," he explained almost apologetically. "He is hyperventilating. This is just to calm him."

"We cannot continue to drug him," she put up some resistance while Mick only now seemed to understand what this was about.

"No... silver," he gasped and looked at Peterson pleadingly. "Give me... silver... lots of... silver."

"No!" Beth uttered shocked. "Mick, no! Are you nuts?!"

Mick ignored her and tried to get up again. She had to lean against him with her whole body weight to keep him down.

"Frank!" he cried urgently, but now Peterson shook his head and for a moment despair distorted Mick's facial features.

"God!" he panted upset and ran his trembling hand over his face. "You don't understand."

"You won't transform, Mick," the professor said quickly and stepped closer to him. "We've provided you with enough blood and you're no longer in critical condition. You _won't _transform." The last sentence he emphasized once again very clearly and he seemed to succeed for Mick resignedly fell back onto the pillows and again closed his eyes out of exhaustion. Beth took the opportunity to look to the door once again and to determine whether the situation out there had grown dangerous for them. But she couldn't hear anything suspicious.

She was sure if the helicopter had belonged to the _Legion _chaos would have broken out all around them already. The question was, who was paying them a visit and most importantly what was their reason?

* * *

There were only three men who hurried to the house, all vampires. I could sense it through the closed screen of the front door. In their midst was Lance. The vampire to his right side I had seen once before. He was a beefy, stocky man with the uninterestingly bovine face of a Stone Age man, but the man on the other side was completely unknown to me. He was tall and lanky and wore his blond hair in a short modern haircut. He also wore a long coat which was probably where he got his coolness. He glanced around again and again and covered Lance's side conscientiously to protect him from potential hazards.

I mentally shook my head and asked myself how many times this guy had seen _Bodyguard, _while at the same time I considered who would be the most dangerous of our visitors if a fight broke out. We could probably deal with the two _footmen_, but to tangle with an ancient vampire like Lance was a totally different matter.

However, it's a well known fact that it's better to be safe then sorry. "Logan," I turned to the frightened vampire behind me and in a voice low enough that even the sensitive vampire ear that Lance possessed could not hear from this distance, said, "At the rear of the house is a closed, fully fuelled jeep. The key is in my coat in the wardrobe. Take one of the coolers, fill it with blood and get it into the jeep. If I give you a sign, grab Mick and the others and take them away from here. Is that clear?"

"Clear," Logan responded tensely and immediately set to work without objecting. I exchanged a short look with August, telling him to hang back for now and stay in the house. Then I opened the screen door of our house and went outside, but not very far. The shadow of the roof over the porch was, for the most part, still concealing me from the sun. The sun wasn't burning as hot anymore at this time of day, but it was enough to sting the vampires out there into hastening their pace. They held their hands protectively against the sun, and coughed again and again for their rapid footsteps stirred up much dust on the parched ground and it got into their noses and mouths.

I remained directly in front of the entrance to our house so that they found no admission and had no alternatives but to place themselves with me under the roof of the porch.

"Josef," Lance greeted me and gave me his typically cold-blooded smile. I was really glad he was wearing sunglasses for they hid his shark-eye, otherwise I probably would have gotten goose bumps, of an unpleasant nature, of course.

"Lance," I replied sounding much more relaxed than I really was.

"An interesting vacation domicile you've chosen here," he said and his piercing voice reflected the coldness and sleekness of his whole appearance.

I gave him back my nicest fake smile. "Who wouldn't love this? Sun, loneliness, harmony. Actually, it was supposed to be an insider's tip. That's why I'm wondering how _you_ got here."

Lance uttered a brief mocking laugh. "_Insider's tip_ is indeed the right word," he evaded my question. "Maybe you should first ask us to come in and extend to us that much talked about hospitality of yours."

I pretended that I really had a choice and thought for a moment about his proposal. Then I moved silently aside and with a smile let them in.

Lance pushed past me and I didn't have to look into his eyes to feel how angry he was. I wasn't surprised and assumed that there would be some trouble very soon.

To my discomfort Lance took off his sunglasses once he was inside, greeted August with a brief nod and looked around with a sneer of disgust on his lips. He obviously shared my aversion to this establishment, but this was the only thing we had in common besides our wealth. I noticed that he briefly closed his eyes to check the area with his vampire senses and I was sure that this was not done to protect himself from potential harm. No, he seemed instead to be looking for something.

"I have a burning interest in your explanation for all of this," he finally said with a cool smile and made a circuitous gesture through the room.

"And _I_ would be interested in knowing how this concerns you," I replied and my cold-blooded smile matched his.

Lance chuckled, seemingly amused and then stepped closer to me. "How it concerns me?" he asked very softly and again confused me with his coal-black eye. Why couldn't he wear contact lenses? This was abnormal!

"Have you any idea what's currently going on in LA?"

I hadn't, but I could imagine it. I knew the _Legion_ and their penchant for dramatic and bloody revenge scenarios and I had never lacked imagination.

"Didn't we agree to proceed against the _Legion_ united as a group?" He continued irritably. "Didn't we agree to discuss everything we do with each other? This is not just _your_ war, Josef! It concerns all of us! And everything we do against the _Legion _comes back to all of us! Your private revenge campaign at the university has cost the lives of eight vampires! And it will be followed by even more, if ... "

"That wasn't a campaign against the _Legion_, Lance," I emphatically cut him short. "I had something to clarify with the _Henderson & Field Corporation,_ that's all it was."

Lance laughed again, but this time he was even angrier. "Of course, you didn't know that this company belongs to the _Legion_."

"Was I supposed to know it?" I smiled back hypocritically. "Then I wonder _who_ has really retained valuable information for himself."

The tension between us had grown unbearable and I distinctly felt that Lance was on the verge of pouncing on me. He was astonishingly short-tempered today and I couldn't imagine that the cause was the death of other vampires. Compassion was a completely unknown concept for Lance so something else had to be behind it. Could it really be that he was afraid for the first time in his long life?

* * *

"Do you remember anything from the last few hours?" asked Peterson, who had decided to put the syringe away. He sat down on the arm chair next to Mick's bed as he opened his eyes again.

Mick's gaze roamed restlessly back and forth between Beth and Peterson, but his breathing was regular again, a sure sign that the panic attack had subsided. Finally, he shook his head confused.

"The _Legion_ found us and you were seriously injured," Peterson said softly. "Josef and Beth took you to a hospital and there the doctors patched you up enough so that your friends could bring you here."

"Where ... where are we?" Mick asked quietly.

"On a farm in Baja California, near Mexicali," Beth pre-empted Peterson and Mick ran his hand clumsily over his face again. "God, Josef," he said with a deep sigh. "What are you doing?"

His reaction bothered Beth slightly. "Josef indicated that you are friends with the tenants of this farm," she said carefully. She was not quite sure if a conversation with Mick would overtax him, but her need to speak with him about anything, to hear his voice, was so great that she didn't want to listen to the voice of reason in her head that told her that Mick urgently needed sleep.

"Did he?" Mick asked tiredly and Beth spotted the hint of a smile on his lips. He and Beth knew that Josef would never voluntarily admit to be friends with humans. He didn't even want to admit to his romantic relationship with Simone which had become very intense over the past year since Mick had allegedly disappeared.

"He said we can trust them," Beth replied with a half smile. To her astonishment he turned his head away and looked over to the dusty window which allowed the light of the day to fall dimly into the room. The memories which perceptibly rose up in him didn't seem to be happy ones but were filled with grief and guilty feelings. Beth could clearly read them in his eyes. Perhaps this was not the right topic to keep him awake.

"We can," Mick said very quietly, his eyes under heavy lids were focused on a faraway place.

Beth didn't know how to reply to that. She certainly didn't want to probe any further and possibly upset him emotionally. But she also didn't know how she could pull him back from his memories or what she could talk with him about. At this moment all the things that weighed on her mind, all the questions that were eating her up inside were related to bitter and terrible memories for Mick or were much too private to talk about as long as other people were in the same room. So she stared at her hands, twined her fingers and inspected each one of them, hoping that maybe Mick would begin the conversation again or fall asleep. She noticed too late that in doing so she revealed the inside of her wrists and the puncture wounds Mick's bite had left on her skin not long ago. Frightened, she pressed her arm against her stomach and looked up.

As luck would have it, he looked at her exactly at this moment and the horror shown on his face within seconds was unstoppable. This time he succeeded in sitting up with a jerk and moving away from her to the bed's wall as if it was she who was dangerous. Beth knew that this anxiety attack was not directed against her but against himself, against the beast living inside him and was due to his lack of recall.

"No ... no...," he uttered shaking his head and then rubbed his face with his palm.

"No, Mick! I wanted to," Beth said and immediately slid closer to him causing him to move away with his super human capacity for reaction. He staggered to his feet on the other side of the bed and stumbled backwards into the infusion drip which fell with a rattle down to the floor.

"Mick, please." Beth tried again as she climbed over the bed knowing with certainty that behind her Peterson had grasped the syringe again. "It was completely harmless."

"No!" it burst fiercely out of Mick and he braced himself with one arm on the wall behind him because his legs were not quite strong enough to hold his body upright. "I'm... I'm not harmless!" He tried to put as much clearness into his words as his strength allowed but his irregular, violent breaths made it difficult.

"Beth!" Peterson had reached her side so quickly that she flinched as he grabbed her arm before she could leave the bed. He didn't say anything, but told her with just one look that she should give Mick room to calm himself down. The fact that he was holding a syringe in the hand behind his back didn't suggest that he really believed that would happen.

* * *

Lance needed a moment to inwardly calm down enough so that he didn't loose his superiorly cool attitude with me. But his fake smile looked a bit tense and in his good eye rage was boiling. However, he decided not to respond to my statement.

"Since the death of other vampires which was due to your recklessness doesn't seem to affect you, you should know that the _Legion_ doesn't kill randomly. They've also let some vampires escape," Lance continued and walked slowly around me. He probably expected me to turn around with him out of fear but I really wasn't eager to do that. And I wasn't afraid either. Admittedly, Lance had a physical advantage over me and he would definitely be able to kill me, but the possibility of finding another, peaceful solution had never existed for me. I had known what I was getting involved with and what risks I was taking the moment I'd superseded Logan's orders from the vampire group and claimed him for my own purposes. And it had always been clear to me that there was no turning back. I wasn't afraid of death.

"Don't you want to know why?" Lance asked because I didn't respond to his dramatic portrayal, and for a moment I felt his breath on my neck. But even that didn't really frighten me, for at the same time I was busy trying to keep my eyes on the other two vampires. They were just poking around the room with interest and moving a little too conspicuously towards the hallway.

"Because they are meant to convey a message to me?" I asked pretending to be bored.

Lance had now walked round me completely and looked at me with his piercing eye. "Exactly," he hissed. "You've stolen something from them and they want it back. Or maybe I should say _someone_?"

"Feel totally free to say anything you want," I answered calmly, although the tension grew in every fiber of my body.

So the _Legion_ was inciting the other vampires to search for me and to bring them Peterson and maybe even Mick. Very interesting. Unfortunately, there are a lot of vampires among us who are capable of such treachery if they feel threatened. That it was Lance who appeared here in person, although he usually preferred to pull strings from a distance and play the big boss of our little rebellion against the _Legion _without getting involved, however, surprised me a bit. I asked myself again what pressure was put upon him that he suddenly got so involved. But he was profoundly mistaken if he believed that it would be easy to get past me.

"If I let Hendrik and Pierre comb through the house, will I find an old, crotchety professor who is been missing for a long time in one of the other rooms?" asked Lance with a gentle coaxing voice.

So, it was only the professor after all.

"I think that you'd be more likely to find their heads totally separated from their bodies," I countered calmly but emphatically and August, who had until now been sitting quietly on the couch, got up.

Lance threw a short, taxing glance at him then he turned to me with a unilaterally contemptuous smile.

"You really don't want to mess with me, Josef." This was not a question but a statement.

"What do _you_ think?" I shot back, an obviously provocative question.

Just then I heard the back door open and close again, and a heartbeat later Logan appeared in the living room. His eyes flew over our ´lovely' visitors and ended up on me with a clear question in them.

Lance eyes rested on my face, the eyes of a feline predator crouched for the fatal leap, and I knew I had no time to give Logan a sign. I made my decision only a few seconds before my opponent and before I had totally transformed I darted at Lance with a deep growl. I closed my hands around his neck with all my strength as the collision sent us to the ground. My fangs hurtled towards his face and missed his cheek by just an inch. He rammed his hands against my chest with incredible strength and the force of his blow catapulted me a fair distance through the air before I painfully crashed into the nearest wall. While I struggled for breath, I caught a glimpse of Logan who threw either Hendrik or Pierre to the ground and noticed from the corner of my eye that August dodged a hard blow by Lance's other companion. Then I heard Lance's wrathful roar, very close to me, deadly close. I jumped aside just in time and his fists broke through the thin wall next to me. The wood splintered under the force of the impact as if the wall consisted of glass. If I hadn't been the target of this attack, I certainly would have admired the aggressiveness of his approach. I lifted my leg to the side and kicked Lance in the belly. This time, _he_ was the one who flew backwards through the room and knocked the coffee table forcefully off its wonky feet. But he rolled gracefully off over his shoulder and was instantly on his feet again. To my surprise he didn't attack me again immediately but remained tense and in a crouched position showing me his fangs with a strange smile. The other combatants were completely ignored by both of us, because each of us was aware of how dangerous the other one was and that just a small mistake could be the last one in our lives. My heart was pumping adrenaline at a furious pace through my bloodstream and causing my vampire senses to be sharpened to the utmost. I didn't miss the slightest movement of my opponent.

"Since when are you selfless, Josef?" Lance asked in a menacing tone, "Risking your life for a human being you don't even know. There must be something more behind it."

"Money, it's always about money," I lied directly to his face and was sure that he saw through the brazen lie immediately. Lance was not only dangerous because he was strong and powerful, he also possessed a deadly intellect.

The smile got still wider in contrast to his murderous gaze, and he was looking at me with almost grotesque features. "I'll kill you Josef," he said delightedly. "Is it worth it?"

"Today is a good day to die," I smiled back. "You'll see."

It was a small movement that registered from the corner of my eye, but I immediately knew that Logan's adversary had freed himself and rushed into the hallway to Mick's room. For just a second my attention was not on Lance. However, a second was enough time for a vampire. I heard the rustle of his coat and a low growl and even my vampire reflexes couldn't save me from being buried under Lance the next moment. I yelled filled more with rage than pain when his fangs sank relentlessly into my neck.

* * *

Beth winced violently when a loud crash resounded from the living room followed by a riot, which could only mean one thing: a violent struggle had erupted. Her heart speeded up a notch and she searched Peterson's gaze. He looked to the door almost as shocked as she was.

"God, are they really here?" he uttered horrified, but Beth couldn't answer him. She was too shocked herself to think clearly or to do anything. Instead, she listened with horror to the battle noises sounding muffled through the thin walls.

"Josef," she heard Mick's voice behind her and spun around to him, surprised. He was paler than before and he looked right through her as if he was looking at something that was beyond her human perception. However, it was something else that drove her heart to a much faster pace and caused her stomach to make an unpleasant turn. Mick's eyes grew distinctly much lighter with every passing second.

"Oh, no, not that, too," Peterson muttered, while Beth's mind was racing. Mick clearly seemed to be transforming. She had witnessed this too often to not be able to detect the symptoms. But she could also see that he struggled with himself, for now he closed his eyes and fell backwards against the wall grimacing with the effort.

Peterson hurried back to the dresser on which he had placed his syringe bag and immediately searched frantically through it. But Beth followed him quickly and grabbed his arm as he pulled out a previously prepared syringe.

"Frank, can he defend himself better as a vampire?" she asked, while the noises from outside were frightening her more and more. The old man met her with a puzzled look then he seemed to understand. "Yes," he admitted and they both looked over to Mick who had slid down the wall and was doubled up as if he was in pain.

"Then help him to transform!" She said emphatically to Peterson. She was sure that this was the only way to protect Mick from their attackers in this critical situation, because she and Peterson weren't strong enough to defend him.

A loud crash in the hallway made them both wince violently and Beth heart gave another shocked leap. Her gaze flew around to Mick, who was still struggling with himself, and then to the door. Without thinking, she hurried to the door, ready to use all her strength to keep it closed until Mick became the dangerous vampire who had frightened her so terribly two nights ago. She would rather be trapped here with him and die through his bloodlust, than to allow anyone to ever cause him harm again. But the moment she put her hand on the doorknob to hold it closed the door was pushed open and hit her with full force on the forehead. The severe pain caused her to stumble a few steps backwards and fall numbly to the floor, while Peterson, afraid of the snarling beast that rushed into the room, drew back.

Everything swirled around Beth for a moment. There was an unpleasant ringing in her ears and the throbbing pain in her forehead seemed to get worse, causing her eyes to water. Nevertheless, she noticed how the big blond vampire who had come through the door stopped, bent down to her with an expression of joyful surprise and deeply breathed in her scent. He looked at her with ravenous hunger and she knew that the warm, sticky liquid that slowly ran down her temple was the reason. Whatever reason the man might have had for coming here, the sight of her blood seemed to make him forget everything else. He grabbed her arm and ran his tongue over his sharp teeth in anticipation.

Beth was too numb to defend herself effectively. She slapped at him and tried to break away, but he was much too strong. He held her down with both hands and his head shot down toward her throat, fangs bared. She felt his greedy breath on her skin when she heard a deep, animal, growl behind her. The vampire paused slightly confused and raised his head, annoyed. That was the only thing he could do, because in the blink of an eye something or rather _someone_ crashed with full force into his upper body and carried him off his feet. Beth was briefly spun around but stayed lying on her belly, uttering a surprised gasp. She raised her aching head in horror when she heard a pained scream close to her, rolled over and backed away, shocked by the sight that met her eyes. She continued to back away until she bumped into a wall.

The vampire had no chance against the wild beast that attacked him. He flailed around and braced himself against the wiry body that held him captive in an iron grip, but he couldn't free himself. His movements soon got weaker and less coordinated, while the beast that had sunk its teeth deeply into his throat like a feline predator not only drank his blood, but strangled him, too, waiting with cruel calmness until his limbs went totally slack.

"My goodness," Beth heard Peterson, who was only an arm's length away from her, gasp in disbelief and she knew exactly what he meant. What she saw was cruel and fascinating at the same time. A vampire was draining another vampire, killing him slowly.

Beth's heart was in her mouth when Mick let his victim go and turned his face to her, his blood-smeared teeth still exposed. He focused his icy, pale eyes on her for a moment, as if he was looking for a new food source. She braced herself for _anything_ and held her breath, but Mick didn't move toward her. Instead, he rose from his knees in one smooth motion and moved so quickly out of the room that she had the feeling she had seen his movements in fast forward.

"Where... where is he going?" she asked Peterson in an agitated voice and got up a bit too fast because the next moment her head was spinning and she had to brace herself against the wall to prevent herself from sinking down on her knees again.

Peterson couldn't answer her. His eyes were still locked on the limp body of the vampire.

"Is he dead?" he asked, completely flustered but Beth wasn't listening. She gathered all the strength she had left and wobbled out of the room, full of concern for Mick and Josef.

"Beth, don't you dare interfere!" she could hear Peterson's desperate call. "They're vampires. Good God!"

* * *

My opponent's teeth ripped out pieces of my flesh and caused deep, heavily bleeding wounds, but fortunately he'd missed my carotid artery. I managed somehow to push one knee under Lance's heavy body and kicked him away from me with great force, releasing the pain and anger out of my body with a loud scream. Emotions were only a hindrance in a death-feud. Blood soaked my collar and the upper part of my silk shirt immediately as I rolled over, panting, and grabbed a half-broken vase that had fallen to the ground in the fight. Lance fist hurtled towards my face again, but instead of hitting my head it hit the sharp edges of the vase and caused several gaping, bleeding wounds to his fist. He jerked back and in doing so gave me the chance to get back on my feet. But I didn't attack him again. Instead, I sprinted off towards the corridor, past Logan, who moved away from August toward Lance's other friend. Mick and Beth were defenseless and at the mercy of Lance's helper and even though I knew how stupid it was to turn my back to Lance I couldn't help myself. The enormous fear for my friends caused me to do things that were completely irrational and against my better judgment.

Of course, I didn't get far because Lance's advanced age gave him more speed than me and he jumped on my back, carried me off my feet again and fastened his teeth into my scapula. The collision with the ground took my breath away for a moment and I felt some of my ribs give a nasty crack followed by a wave of breathtaking pain.

I suppressed a loud cry of pain as Lance ripped out a piece of flesh from my back with his fangs. In a panic I tried to turn around, to get free, but this time I had no chance. Lance pushed me down with his body and his hands closed like a vise around my head. I knew immediately what he was about to do and went icy cold. I realized it was over and Josef Kostan would cease to exist in the next second.

But then something happened. Lance froze as I heard the most brutish, deadliest roar I had ever heard in my whole life.

"What the hell," was all Lance was able to say before something crashed into him and set me free from the weight of his body. They both hit the wooden floor with a loud thump. I rolled weakly to the side, grabbed hold of the overturned chair next to me and got into a reasonably upright posture, my gaze disbelievingly fixed on the two bodies caught in a deadly embrace. For the first time since I've known him, I heard Lance scream in panic. He succeeded with great difficulty in pushing the man who had him in desperate straits, off of himself. But like a cat his opponent landed immediately on his feet again. Lance also hastened to get back up, but tumbled weakly backwards, pressing one hand onto the heavily bleeding wound on his neck. Like me, he stared totally bewildered at the vampire who was crouching, ready for the next pounce.

"St. John," he said before his most dangerous opponent in a very long time hurtled towards him again while I just stood there watching what happened with my mouth wide open. My mind was so muddled by the high blood loss that I was only very slowly realizing that this ravenous beast and my best friend were one and the same person.

Lance slunk aside, but Mick seemed to have expected it, because somehow he turned a little bit during his leap, seized Lance with his arm and knocked him over again. He launched Lance into the corner like a doll and with such force that his impact against the wall made plaster crumble down from the ceiling.

"Wow!" I said, impressed. The other fights around us had died down as the eyes of every person in the room were on Lance and Mick. My friend was breathing heavily as he again crouched in front of the much older vampire who was now having great difficulty in getting back on his feet again. Fear and maximum confusion were visible in the eyes of the elder vampire as he braced for the next attack.

I could hear fast footsteps behind me and smelled immediately that it was Beth who approached, closely followed by Peterson. But I didn't dare to turn around to them for fear of missing any of this incredible trial of strength. So I just raised my hand behind my back in a braking gesture. A small, wise voice in my head screamed at me to intervene and to end this fight before Mick ran himself into the ground. But I simply couldn't do it. I was too fascinated, too excited, too enthusiastic ...too vindictive.

Mick, however, made the mistake of looking around and Lance was too experienced to let this moment pass unused. He jumped forward and this time it was Lance who caught Mick unprepared and I began to move immediately. But to my surprise, August, of all people barred my way and held me while Lance and Mick collided with the power of two natural forces and shook the wall like the after effect of a small earth tremor.

I heard Beth scream in horror when Lance's teeth dug into the arm Mick had quickly moved in front of his throat, but the elder vampire could not cause any more damage. Because of the pain, Mick was so angry that he smashed his fist with such force into Lance's face that even from this distance I could hear his cheekbone breaking. The force of the blow seemed to stun even a strong vampire like Lance. He staggered a few steps aside and was thrown over the couch when Mick's shoulder rammed into his chest. He pursued him immediately and in a few seconds was above him and, as far as I could see, bit into his throat again.

Once more August was the only one of the fascinated and shocked viewers who was capable of any action. He let go of me abruptly, snatched the syringe which Peterson held in his hand, jumped over the couch as well and rammed the needle into Mick's neck. My friend managed to turn around to him with a snarl but the drug took effect rapidly and he slumped to the ground limply, burying the motionless Lance under him.

"What the hell was that?" I blurted as I roused from my rigidity and immediately rushed towards him.

"What was what?" August snapped at me angrily. "Did you want him to kill Lance?"

I had indeed envisioned something like that in my thirst for revenge, but, of course, I had not thought for a second about the possible consequences, which now flashed through my mind. Lance was a powerful man in our society with even more powerful vampire allies who no one here really wanted to mess with. So I bit back any further comment with great difficulty and knelt down next to Mick and Lance to help August move Mick off his opponent and onto the couch. Beth and Peterson were instantly next to us and I knew that the concern on their faces for definitely not for Lance.

"What was in the syringe?" I addressed the professor.

"A medication that knocks out vampires very quickly," replied Peterson while his fingers felt Mick's pulse. "It doesn't do any damage to his human side but I think the vampire in him has already done enough damage." He didn't miss Beth's and my horrified look, as he briefly looked at the not yet healed wounds on Mick's arm. "He needs blood and fluid immediately," he added tensely, and looked at me again. "And rest!"

I understood instantly, slid my arms under Mick's limp body and despite my own ailing state, lifted him up with vampire dexterity to take him back to his room by the shortest route. For an instant my gaze rested on Lance's lifeless face and I wondered what his first reaction would be when he awoke. Perhaps it would be better to chain him.

August seemed to guess my thoughts. "I think you'd better get back here as quickly as possible," he said emphatically and I nodded before I turned around and quickly left the battlefield followed by Beth and Peterson. I could feel the frightened, still totally bewildered, gazes of all the other vampires on my back.


	19. Fear

_*__I'm so overwhelmed again. That much feedback… I'm really speechless and I swear I'll do my best to post the next chapter as soon as possible (maybe within the next three days). You're so great and like I said before: Your reviews really help a lot! It's the only reward you can get as an author who writes fanfiction. So thanks to all of you. And I'll give my best to translate the story as quickly as possible. And I also want to thank all my German helpers who have translated one or two chapters up to now and are still helping me. This time it was Kylara (feel hugged my dear!) and Jo did again the beta reading (also a big hug to you! I don't know what I would do without you). And now I don't want to keep you back any longer and hope you'll enjoy the next chapter. Best wishes, Jenna*_

_P.S.: SG6169: You really made me speechless. You've read the whole story with the help of the google translator? Wow! This must have been very stressing for it doesn't work that well, I think , and you have to guess a lot to understand the story. I'm really impressed. But there's just one thing I have to put right: Cleo is just one of the people who help me translate the story. __There are at least seven other people who have taken over a chapter and the others are translated by me. About your other question: Of course I'll also translate the sequel to 'Newborn' (Blood of the Lily) and will post it here._

* * *

**Fear**

* * *

_"Of all emotions, fear is the one weakening judgment abilities the most."_

_(Jean François Paul de Gondi)_

* * *

The older and more powerful vampires become, the more invincible they feel. After a certain point they don't even think of death or their former mortal lives. Emotions such as fear and helplessness are forgotten all too soon and over the years having sympathy towards weaker people or affection and respect for others becomes more difficult. This is particularly true when there are no friends who challenge you now and then, who set you straight when you have too much pride.

Presumably there was no such person in Lance's life. In my previous meetings with him it seemed to me Lance felt like a demigod who mercifully lowered himself to walk among us ordinary folks, showing us with more irritation than benevolence how to handle an impending vampire apocalypse.

The saying "only viewed from below, standard looks like arrogance" also fit my philosophy, but contrary to Lance _I_ was able to recognize the moment I had to put down my class mentality and start working together with people who did not meet my standards without consistently insulting them. Except for Logan, but hey, he's special.

Lance's arrogance and overestimation of his own capabilities which had caused his defeat and near death experience had now thrown him off balance to such an extent that within the first minutes of his awakening he had tumbled into a corner of the damaged living area, hyperventilating and walking back and forth like an agitated animal unable to utter a coherent word.

When I showed up again, unwillingly leaving Mick and the others alone, he had calmed down a bit and was sitting on one of the damaged armchairs hastily gulping down a big helping of blood that August had brought him. The blood loss that had rendered him unconscious had also taken away his healthy appearance and his self-assured personality. Fear quickly flashed through his eyes when my gaze captured his form as he made sure no one was following me. Noticing the miserable impression he made, he quickly straightened his shoulders and put aside the already empty blood bag.

"What the hell has been going on here?" he asked me directly trying to look as formidable as possible. But his pale face and the slight trembling in his voice betrayed his inner turmoil. "St. John is... he... the blood of the ancients is flowing through his veins!" He pointed toward the hallway showing me distinctly who he was talking about. "How can that be?!"

I raised my brows, more annoyed than confused. "You're asking _me_? Your new friends probably know about it all too well."

Lance scowled at me angrily then got up to be at eye level with me. "My new friends?" he hissed, irritated.

"Oh, not the right words?" I retorted back sounding innocent. "My apologies, I falsely assumed you appeared here to give the professor back to the_ Legion_."

"Stop, stop, stop!" August, who had just fetched another blood bag from the fridge, quickly stepped between us and raised his hands soothingly. "This is not going to help us!" he admonished, exchanging looks with both of us. "We shouldn't fight each other but stick together," he said and cast a glance at Lance's companion who had also joined us with a mixture of anxiety and a readiness for combat.

"All this," he made a wide gesture towards the chaos our heavy fight had left behind, "is exactly what the _Legion_ wants."

A "Lance started it all." was on the tip of my tongue, but that would have been too childish even for Josef Kostan, so I bit back any further comment and nodded, appearing to be more accepting than I really was. My anger at Lance hadn't ceased and the belligerent gleam in his eyes told me he had similar feelings. But August interpreted his silence as acceptance and inhaled deeply.

"Ok," he said "However, we have to talk about all of it." His gaze lingered on Pierre's lifeless form that he and Logan had brought out of Mick's room, and was now lying on the couch. At first we had thought him to be dead, but he still breathed and his wounds had started to heal slowly after August had given him a blood transfusion. A few minutes more without blood and no one would have been able to save him.

"Certainly," Lance retorted, still clearly annoyed. Again his gaze wandered towards the dark hallway and back to me. "So, it's St. John who made you start this whole mess," he noted with a half-failed attempt at a smile. "How pathetic! Sacrificing your own allies to save one single man."

Deeply disapproving of his statement, I knitted my brows and pensively tilted my head. "You still don't understand what this is all about?" I asked trying to appear calm.

"And you don't seem to understand that your actions endangered the whole vampire society!" Lance snarled, while August unbelievingly alternated his glance between the two of us shaking his head. "Actions like these are usually sanctioned with the death penalty."

"I'll gladly repeat myself," I told him tensely as my hands unintentionally clenched into fists. "_I_ am not the one threatening the vampire society. Or do you really want to tell me the vampires who were killed weren't on the list?"

As expected, there was no actual answer to this question and Lance kept staring hostilely at me, his jaw twitching with tension. There was no way he would acknowledge that I was right.

Instead August did it for him. "Josef is right," he used the break to make his contribution. "We are currently facing extreme conditions, even if the rest of the world doesn't know about it. And there are other laws valid under extreme conditions."

"So it's ok that everyone is doing things their own way?" Lance snapped at August who instantly shook his head.

"No, but in dangerous situations everyone relies on being allowed to make an impulsive decision without having to face punishment afterwards," he replied as calmly as possible.

"That's nothing really new for you, Lance," I just had to add. "You've been playing by your own rules for forever."

Lance actually managed to smile in a disparaging way again. "Because I didn't care about your small petty vampire community in the past doesn't mean we, the older vampires in Europe, do not live by certain basic rules and behavioral codes. As one of us you would have forfeited every right to exist with your egoistic, self-righteous behavior!"

August shook his head again and quickly raised his hand before I had a chance to say anything. Maybe this was better for I had a few words on the tip of my tongue that would have caused Lance, due to the sensitive state he was in, to become furious again. And neither of us was really in any condition to endure another fight, especially since I hadn't had a chance to replenish my blood loss until now.

"Josef's motives were anything but egoistical," August countered Lance a bit more severely. "This was far more than just rescuing a good friend! Do you have any idea what the _Legion_ has done behind our backs?"

Lance uttered a disdainful snort. "Are you hinting at those horror stories about experiments being done with captured vampires?"

"Exactly," August said in an overly severe tone of voice. "And you of all people should not ridicule this as the result of their research recently shredded half of your neck."  
Lance's hard-won self satisfaction collapsed like a house of cards and for a moment he gazed at August in bewilderment. Quite clearly I could see Lance trying to piece together this new information along with the actions that had happened the last few minutes and coming to a shocking conclusion. "St. John... had been their lab rat?!"

I had to take a deep breath to stop myself from ramming my fist into his face right away. That word…

August simply nodded.

"What.... what kind of experiments did they do with him?" Lance asked as his anxiety rose. "And why?"

"As far as we are able to determine, it's about giving supernatural vampire abilities to humans without turning them into vampires," August explained and Lance's excitement was growing with every word he heard.

"Immortal, superhumanly strong soldiers without our species' weaknesses," he uttered in a hushed voice, eyes wide with fear. "With these special weapons technologically geared towards the destruction of vampires they could completely destroy vampires and make these new super humans the world's most powerful creatures!"

"Now you know what I'm talking about!" August replied. "What we did in the last few days was anything but egoistic. Not only did we snatch the most important researcher from the _Legion_ but we also managed to get their most successful experiment to date."

I hadn't looked at the whole thing from this point of view, but now I was able to understand why August had been so eager to involve himself in this and had invested so much energy into our actions. His motives where far more noble than mine regarding the whole of vampire society.

For a moment Lance seemed to be a bit absentminded then gave August a determined look, so visibly ignoring me that I could almost guess what he was about to say next.

"There are only two possibilities for us now," he said, and I took a deep breath to stop myself from exploding almost immediately. "Either we kill both of them or hide them from the _Legion _and determine if they are of value for us in any way."

"Do you really think you have any say here?" I snarled at him and my blood started slowly but surely to boil again. Just the fact that he considered killing Mick made me furious.

"Yes, I do indeed! " Lance hissed back. "I think I represent the opinions of far more vampires than you do! And _He_ sure as hell will be interested in all this, too!"

_He_. Nobody in the vampire society liked to mention his name and just referring to him made nearly all vampires quake with fear. The world's oldest vampire, the most powerful, the most dangerous. Only a few had actually seen him. _He_ didn't care for foreigners and usually gathered the same people around him. Lance being one of them. And yet _He_ was the one who had the final say on difficult vampire issues, like a Supreme Court or a kind of president, if _He_ thought it was necessary. Most of the time _He_ kept himself out of other's business. But in this case Lance was right. Mick could be of interest to_ Him_ and that wasn't good.

"_He_'ll decide what happens with your friend," Lance added and I gritted my teeth so hard one could hear the telltale grinding. "Until _He_'s here you'd better not leave this place. And you need to think about how you can turn this... this animal back into a civilized being. Maybe he'll have a chance then."

I breathed heavily and angrily, clenching my hands to fists again, but August pressed a hand against my chest and pushed me back a bit, looking forcefully into my eyes.

"Josef, be reasonable," he said quietly although we both knew Lance was able to hear us clearly. "We have to stick together. Or we won't win this war! Nothing will happen to Mick. He's too precious, and not only for the _Legion_. And_ He_ is indeed known to be strict and rigorous, but also very wise. He will understand that we need Mick."

"What are you talking about, August?" I asked, upset because somehow I had the feeling that there was something going on behind my back. That August knew more than I did and had developed his own plans and ideas regarding Mick. All _I_ wanted was for Mick to recover and become his old self again. To finally find peace and insure that no one would be able to harm him again. I never thought him to be a part of our fight against the _Legion_, had never told him about this organization and our problems with them. And I really did not want him to be used by the vampires as any kind of weapon against the _Legion_.

"We need allies, Josef!" August looked at me pleadingly. "We can't run away from the _Legion_ forever. And surely we won't be able to flee from the vampire society_ and_ the _Legion_! Think about it! That would be suicide!"

I avoided his eyes and stared hard at the floor burning holes into the wood, because the rage inside me had grown so much that I barely managed to control it. I knew August was right about this. We needed the support of the other vampires. We wouldn't survive on our own and we wouldn't be able to protect Mick sufficiently alone. But I was deeply reluctant to put Mick's fate into the hands of the eldest vampire without knowing what he would do.

"Josef," August stepped closer to me and talked in the lowest tone vampires were able to use. "You heard what Lance said earlier. For some reason the blood of the ancients flows through Mick's veins. I smelled it myself and so did you and you know one of our most important laws."

I nodded understandingly and felt relieved. "The ancient's blood is holy and sacrosanct but Mick's not really..."

"That's not important," I was interrupted by August. "Believe me they will be wary of killing him."

"But they could take him away, lock him up and do whatever they like with him."

"Then we could still step in. But as a gesture of goodwill we should work together with them."

I inhaled deeply and gave Lance, who had walked away from us seemingly disinterested, a doubtful look. Although he was thoroughly examining the damage to the walls, I knew very well that he was eavesdropping on us.

"Okay," I finally answered, addressing him and he looked at me with raised eyebrows. "We will stay here and wait for _His_ word."

I could see Lance was annoyed about my less than submissive remark, but to my surprise he simply nodded.

"I will take Pierre to the helicopter with Hendrik's help," he explained. "But Hendrik will come back and stay with you until I know how to proceed further. And he will report to me every 4 hours. If this doesn't happen I'll know you are guilty of high treason and you will draw the necessary consequences from it."

For a moment his gaze lingered on my motionless face. Then he turned away from me drawn by the suddenly loud engine noise that could be heard in front of the house. I frowned in confusion, walked toward the front door with hasty steps and quickly ripped it open. I already had a guess as to who it would be.

The tractor stopped in front of the door the moment I left the house and a huge, ragged shepherd dog dashed at me with a loud growl but came to a halt when recognized me. The two men sitting on the tractor did not give the impression that they had been doing fieldwork recently. This was maybe due to the fact that they both had shotguns in their hands.

"Hóla, José!" the elder one greeted me with a friendly nod that added more wrinkles to his already weather-beaten and wrinkled face. His gaze immediately wandered towards the house. When I heard the squeak of the screen door behind me, I knew curiosity had brought Lance out into the fading sunlight, too.

"Alejandro, Manolo," I greeted the two sturdy men and noticed the younger one had propped his gun on his knee in such a way that the gun barrel pointed directly to Lance who had stepped onto the patio.

"Todo bién?" Alejandro asked while the shepherd dog in front of me started growling again, this time at Lance.

I nodded as convincingly as possible. Even though I was touched that our human friends had come to our defense, I would not make use of their help. This was just too dangerous for them even though these two men already had some fighting experience with vampires.

"We saw the helicopter and after some to and fro decided to check if you and your visitors are all right," Alejandro explained still in Spanish.

"That's really nice, but our guests are about to leave at any moment," I replied in the same language and Alejandro responded with a hesitant but understanding nod. He didn't seem to be really convinced and he tried to read from my look if I was somehow being blackmailed, but I only smiled at him.

"Everything's under control," I distinctly repeated myself again, still in Spanish.

"Cómo está Mick?" Manolo wanted to know and from the intensity of his glance I knew he wanted to know badly.

"Mejor," I answered briefly. "We'll talk about that later, okay?" It wasn't a question but an order which Manolo and his father comprehended at once. Alejandro started the motor of the tractor questioning me with a last glance which I answered with a slight head shake. Then he took off toward the main building. The shepherd dog growled once more then he started running after the tractor.

For a while I looked after them and asked myself if it really had been such a good idea to make this place our hideout and endanger these humans but I had lacked time to plan anything else. When Mick regained his strength there would surely be some trouble.

I felt Lance's glance on the back of my neck and turned to him with an uneasy feeling. A strange smile was playing around his lips when he approached me.

"So, you even have some human allies," he stated in a furtive voice. "Isn't that a little too dangerous for those poor creatures? If you disappeared there would be no one here to protect them anymore." Pityingly he shook his head and again I had to fight to control the twitching of my fists.

The screen door behind me squeaked again and August and Hendrik carried a still weak Pierre out. At least he had opened his eyes and could move his feet, although he wasn't able to carry most of his own weight. Again, August gave me a severe look when he walked past me with his burden towards the helicopter and I knew he was pleading with me not to start another fight with Lance. So I just ignored him and walked wordlessly back to the house without turning around to look at him once.

* * *

It is not often that vampires are nervous or afraid. Thinking about it, Beth realized she actually had never seen such behavior from vampires before. Rage, aggression, bloodlust, those were the emotions she knew, even from Mick, but fear for their own lives? Having immortality and self-regeneration as normal functions, there was no need for worry and maybe that was the reason that they reacted so violently under daunting conditions.

Logan was now making his twentieth trip around the room, sending fearful glances again and again in Mick's direction. Mick, who still lay lifeless on his bed, was provided with electrolyte-solutions and other medications by Peterson. Logan didn't like staying in this room and showed his wish to leave by looking longingly at the door every now and then. Mick's brutal fight with this boss-vampire had frightened him terribly and Josef's last remark had done the rest.

After they had put Mick on his bed and Peterson had assured Josef several times that Mick was relatively good and he didn't need him here, Josef had ordered Logan to stay in this room and watch over both humans at Mick's side.

"And if he wakes up, what am I supposed to do then?" an insecure Logan had asked.

"Pray, Logan, pray," Josef had replied with a mean grin and then had disappeared. Logan hadn't been able to let go of the topic since then.

Now he stopped again, eyeing Mick very skeptically.

"If he wakes up what will he be?" he turned to Peterson who held a vial with reddish liquid in his hand, drawing up another syringe from it.

"I really can't tell you," Peterson answered without interrupting his work. "Actually, he's supposed to wake up as a human for the vampire inside him will be drugged for quite a while. But Mick has managed to surprise me several times and seemingly his inner vampire is much stronger than his human side at the moment."

"Oh, great!" Logan uttered in a loud voice and again walked back and forth a few steps. "Isn't there anything you can do about it?"

"I'm trying to do that now," Peterson responded, clearly annoyed, and inserted the needle into the connection piece of the catheter.

"Is this really necessary?" Beth interfered worriedly. Unlike the other residents in the house she wasn't afraid of Mick. It seemed clear to her that he had just defended the people he loved. Since the fight she was convinced he would never hurt them, no matter how wild and rampant he became.

But Peterson simply nodded and injected Mick with the agent. "That's a mixture made up of the cure and other important ingredients, specifically adjusted for Mick's body. We need to reduce his vampire hormones. I told you it will take some time until the balance between his two sides is established once again. This is especially true since he drank so much vampire blood."

Logan screwed up his face in disgust and raised his hands in defense. "Oh, come on."

Beth crossed her arms in front of her chest, annoyed. "So you think _this_ is awful, do you?" she asked indignantly.

"Yes," Logan replied honestly, "it's unnatural!"

"And _we_ are supposed to be the pantry!" Beth complained.

Logan looked at her frowning. "Did you ever ask the cows and pigs whether they want to be slaughtered and eaten by you?"

"I'm a vegetarian," Beth lied quickly, although she had to admit that Logan's arguments weren't that farfetched.

Logan shrugged his shoulders. "That's your own choice."

"But, about blood," Peterson interrupted both of them. "I might need your help, Beth."

He rolled up one of his sleeves and grabbed another already prepared syringe. "What Mick needs after all his exertion is plenty of blood, preferably by a direct transfusion."

"Take mine," burst out of Beth before she even thought about it. It was astonishing how very willing she was to give her blood since they had found Mick. But in actual fact there was no better blood for a vampire than blood of his own type. Peterson was old and looked so worn out by this point that he could not be expected to act as a blood donor once again. Apart from this, as far as she knew his own blood type was A positive.

The doctor looked at her speechlessly for a moment. "What's your blood type, then?" he finally asked hesitantly.

"A0 negative," she replied calmly and rolled up her sleeve. Both Peterson and Logan looked at her with their mouths agape for a moment.

"So, that's the delicious scent in here," Logan finally stated with a joyful smile moving closer to Beth. He closed his eyes inhaling her scent delightedly. Only then it occurred to her that she had received a bleeding wound recently. She moved her hand to her forehead and noticed it had already closed. Nevertheless, Logan eyed her with a very lecherous glance.

"Don't even think about it," she grumbled and turned back to Peterson.

"That's really," even the doctor had to collect himself. "Why didn't you tell me that right away? There's nothing else that's better for him."

"Indeed," Logan added grumpily and turned his back to them sulkily.

"But do you really want to do this?" the professor had to ask her. "There's the distinct possibility that he will get used to drinking your blood and will start looking for you any time he turns into a vampire. He's much more driven than other vampires and will stay this way for a while."

Beth pensively eyed the small scars on her wrist and thought about how it would feel to feed Mick on a regular basis. Constant pain and constant fear, in order to help him to recover and to progress faster. But wasn't it worth it?

"I'm ready," she answered and held out her arm to Peterson. He smiled at her warmly and then raised the syringe.

"This is a mixture made of several minerals and vitamins he currently needs most," he quickly explained and injected the mixture into her vein so swiftly that she didn't even feel the sting. His gaze wandered toward the bed and he seemingly confirmed his own thoughts with a nod of his head. "Just lay down next to him while I fetch the device."

Beth simply nodded and tried to hide how eager she was to fulfill Peterson's instructions. This way she could be close to Mick without the others noticing how much she needed to be near him.

The bed was big enough for two and she made her way carefully to Mick taking care not to wake him. He still looked very exhausted and pale, a sure sign he needed blood urgently and she felt a strong need to touch him, to caress his slim face, to show him she was still at his side and there for him.

The "device" Peterson brought was tiny and consisted of two long tubes with a complicated looking central piece, apparently containing a kind of pump.

"I used this several times when he was too weak to bite on his own," the professor explained and applied an intravenous access to Mick's vein in the arm next to Beth and then fixed one of the tubes to it. She inhaled deeply and looked at the ceiling when he did the same with her arm. For a moment it hurt severely and her face screwed up. Logan approached the bed and watched her with pensively knitted brows. "Oh my, this is really inconvenient," he noticed shaking his head.

"Shall we wake him up?" she asked, smiling at him in an overly friendly way, and Logan raised his hands immediately in a deterring motion.

"No, no, keep going!" he smiled at her sympathetically and then raised both his thumbs with feigned optimism.

A quiet buzzing at her side and a soft pull on her arm told Beth that the professor had started the transfusion and she gave the construction a quick view. Blood flowed viscously through the translucent tube and she averted her gaze quickly for an uneasy feeling instantly spread into her stomach. Distraction, she needed a distraction, quickly!

Logan needed one as well she noticed when she looked at him. Only his gaze was more of the starved, greedy kind as he absent mindedly licked his lips.

"Here! Take this!" Apparently Peterson was worried by the expression in Logan's eyes, too, for he threw a fresh blood bag that he had just removed from a cooling box next to Mick's bed, to the vampire. Logan snatched it with astonishing skill right out of the air. He stared at the bag disapprovingly. "A positive? No one drinks this."

"Mick does," Beth knew and smiled at him broadly. "But he would drink _your_ blood as well, if you dare to lay a finger on me."

Something resembling fear shown in Logan's eyes. He hurried out of Mick's reach, sat down on a stool next to the window and pitched into his meal. Good to know that now she could use Mick to blackmail other vampires.

"Why is Mick so strong?" Beth asked Peterson who had sat down tiredly at the bed's edge next to Mick.

Peterson inhaled deeply and had to think a moment to find the right answer to this question. "I think this all relates to his slightly changed DNA and to the ancient vampires' blood we experimented with."

"The blood of ancient vampires?" Beth probed, listening attentively.

"Yes, because…" His gaze wandered to his hands, a distinct sign his sense of shame had kicked in again. "The Legion never intended to turn Mick back into an ordinary human. It nearly happened a few times, but it wasn't what they wanted. So we had to supply him with vampire hormones strong enough to counter the healing power of the changed serum and these were only accessible through the blood of ancient vampires. The older a vampire is, the stronger he is."  
Beth nodded with understanding, even though her mind wasn't as clear as usual due to the blood loss. "And where did you get the blood from?" she asked, noticing her voice was getting more sluggish. A leaden heaviness slowly but surely spread throughout her limbs.

"Over the years, the Legion captured a lot of vampires and conserved their blood," Peterson explained calmly and Beth caught an upset sound from Logan's direction. "I think the blood given to Mick near the end was from a vampire who had lived over 2000 years..."

"...until he was killed and conserved," Logan burst out angrily and really appeared to be shocked. "Great! Really great! 2000 years! Man!"

"I'm really sorry," Peterson said sadly. "I never wanted this."

Logan uttered another ungracious growl and turned to face the window, looking out into the fading evening light.

With heavy eyelids Beth watched Mick's peaceful face. "Will it stop someday?" she asked, lost in thought. "This... this ferocity?"

Now Peterson eyes also roamed over Mick's form. "With a lot of work and labor it will be possible in my opinion. But it will be a long time because it's not only a very strong vampire we have to deal with but also a severely traumatized human. Humans in this condition are already difficult to handle but the vampire will be an added difficulty."

"I trust him," Beth muttered silently. "He'll make it."

"Yes. But you have done enough for him for now," the professor said smiling gently and bent over Mick to turn off the little pump and carefully remove the needles from both her and Mick's veins. Beth quickly closed her eyes and had great difficulty trying to open them again for suddenly she was so tired and relaxed. Peterson still sat on the bed watching them both with the gracious gaze of a father who had just put his kids to bed and was about to wish them a good night, and somehow this vision made her smile.

"Just lay with him for a while," he said gently. "I think it's good for him to feel your presence."  
As if on cue, Mick's body jerked and he forcefully ripped open his eyes, struggled for air for a few seconds then he uttered a panic-fuelled "Beth!" A loud bang from the corner opposite the bed told Beth that Logan had fallen from his stool in shock but it didn't matter to her.

"I'm here... here!" she answered immediately. Drowsily she straightened herself and her hand wandered instinctively to Mick's face. She turned his head around so that his panic-stricken gaze which was flying throughout the entire room inevitably had to meet hers. A deep sigh of relief escaped Mick's throat as he recognized her and with difficulty he turned onto his side. He also reached out a hand to her and gently touched her cheek as if to make sure she was real. Even though his eyes were still a little too pale she felt his human side had the upper hand over his body for now. And it was the first time in a long while that _warm_ fingers were touching her, caressing her very carefully as if he was afraid she would vanish into thin air, wandering from her cheek to her forehead where the door had left a bloody scratch on her skin.

"It's not that bad," she answered the unspoken question showing in his expressive eyes. "Nothing could have happened to me... you protected me."

Her own hand touched his and then caressingly ran up and down his arm, drinking in the incredibly wonderful feeling of his warm skin under her fingers. She was very careful not to touch the catheter in the crook of his arm that still supplied him with liquid from the drip. She forgot completely that they weren't alone, although she noticed vaguely that the professor withdrew and went toward Logan answering his fearful "Is he vampire or human?"

A happy smile appeared on Beth's face when she noticed Mick closed his eyes under her tender touch for a moment, inhaled deeply and calmly and all tension slowly left his body. When he opened his lids again, a ghost of a smile played around his lips and his eyes were filled with deep affection. Carefully his fingers traced the contours of her face, glided to her ear and finally reached her nape. With soft pressure he pulled her head to meet his till their foreheads touched. Again he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And Beth did the same. She hadn't felt this close and connected to him for such a long time and it felt good, so good that she had the feeling that she could lay like this forever. The leaden sleepiness overwhelmed her with all its force and even if it had dawned upon her subconscious mind that there were still other people in the room, and that Josef, who would definitely not like to see her this close to Mick, would be back soon, she couldn't prevent herself from falling asleep.


	20. Falsities

_*__I told you I'll try my best to post the next chapter within the next three days and here it is! Your feedback really helped to work at this story, so it's also you who made the next chapter get ready so quickly. So thanks a lot! And a big thank you to Jo again who's still doing this beta-reader job so well and quickly! I'm really curious what you'll all say about this chapter. So please let me know what you think about it. Best wishes, Jenna*_

* * *

**F****alsities**

* * *

"_To err is the right of the one, who's searching the truth."_

_(Erich Mühsam)_

* * *

There are people who bury their heads in the sand when they get into a hopelessly difficult situation and instead of taking action only moan about their awful fate. I'm not such a person, or rather, vampire. Even though I've always asserted that I am more a lover than a fighter, if forced to play the role of the fighter, I will fill the role to perfection. And honestly, in some situations the role of the lover is so inappropriate.

Lance had made it clear that he hated it when someone took the reins from his hand. When he needed to so, he even drew upon other people's authority to make you submit to his will or stop you from putting up a fight. Just as clearly, I sensed that Mick was quite a big thorn in his side ever since my friend had tried to end his, the way _I_ saw it, much too long-lasting life. I assumed that his description of the events to the patriarch of vampires would be biased by this traumatic experience and that he would try to cut Mick to pieces, making it much more difficult to expect a fair judgment by _Him_ concerning Mick. But Lance was profoundly wrong when he thought he was the only one who had powerful allies.

After Lance left I looked in on Mick and saw, much to my annoyance, that there was no relying upon people who were forced to do a job that didn't correspond to their profession. To let Beth slip into Mick's bed, although no one knew when he would again turn into an uncontrollable beast, didn't meet my expectations of a responsible minder. Peterson was just a human and really didn't know the animal that was inside a vampire, so he was half-way excused. But Logan knew better and it served him right to be rudely awakened and thrown out into the hall. His assumption that I was in bad mood and was just venting my rage on him wasn't far-fetched, but why did he always get on my nerves?

Beth had dropped off into such a deep sleep that she didn't notice the commotion around her or that she was being carried back into her room. And Mick had drifted off to his half coma again. Seemingly, at this moment, his system had only a switch for 'on' and 'off'. That had to change quickly if we were going to be able to stand up to _Him_.

August had fetched me immediately although I had told him I would stay outside for a while to take in some fresh air. Fortunately, in contrast to the other vampires in our abode, he was a bright guy and owned a quick wit. He had, therefore, offered very obligingly, to take Hendrik with him to try one of the rarer blood types we had in our refrigerator. The vampire had followed him without giving it a second thought. Seemingly, Hendrik didn't fancy being my babysitter. He seemed to be certain that I wouldn't try to escape by myself and wasn't as scrupulous about his 'friend's' orders as I had first assumed.

Of course he was right. I wouldn't flee. Not now, not later, not alone nor with anyone else as this option no longer existed for us. We couldn't run away from everything and everyone. Doing so would only confirm the rumors that we weren't interested in supporting the vampire society in its fight against the_ Legion_. If we wanted to stand up to Lance and his followers, we needed allies, powerful ones, and they were who I was trying to reach as I was walking up and down in front of the farm house being careful not to talk too loudly or to be noticed by outsiders.

Fortunately, the upper vampire society of L.A. was an established community and most of my friends wouldn't let Lance's doubletalk and the _Legion_'s threats drive them so wild that they wouldn't listen to me. Furthermore, despite his authority, Lance wasn't held in high esteem in the community of L.A., much less the whole of the USA. The vampires in Europe lived too much their own life and had too often reacted with refusal and arrogance to our requests, causing the vampires of L.A. to solidify against them immediately and without any doubt. All I had to do was to describe the dramatic events of the past days and present them in the proper light driving home to them that everything that had just happened was done to keep the community out of harm's way.

The cleverer ones of my friends would imagine that this was only half the story. But for them it was the end result that mattered: namely that these events would indeed be of major importance for the fate of all vampires. Once again the Europeans had tried to sort this out between themselves and present the rest of the vampires with a fait accompli. I soon found, to my satisfaction, that most of the vampires saw me rather than Lance as their leader and I saw clearly that they would be on the scene instantly if I needed their support. My spirits rose with every successful call.

I finally spotted my helicopter in the sky. It was bringing the eagerly awaited supplies and the urgently needed electrician. That moment I almost felt the desire to open a bottle of champagne and to drink with the others to the future. The European vampires could come here and act as the sovereigns of the world but when they entered my territory their territory ended!

The rotors of the helicopter made the nearby small trees bend dangerously and the wind whipped up dust and sand as the helicopter set down elegantly onto the ground. I put one arm casually in front of my face and smiled at the arrivals optimistically and with my usual arrogance.

Logan's friend wasn't a surprise to me. He was tall and thin and wore glasses. He had too long dark-blonde hair and simply awful unstylish clothing. He wore a white and blue checked shirt with short khaki pants and tatty sneakers. The sight shook me to the core for here was another geek. However, I greeted him with a smile when he came tentatively up to me. He was clearly impressed by the still rapidly moving rotors of the helicopter and was loaded down with several heavy bags and was pulling a big trolley case behind him.

"Josef Kostan?" he called above the noise of the helicopter which was slowly coming to rest.

I nodded and almost recoiled when, with a jerk, the boy's hand shot out to me.

"Seth Blunter," he beamed at me and I felt forced to grab his hand and to let him give my arm a good shake. He was a very young vampire, I could clearly tell as there was still so much humanity and agitation clinging to him.

"It's such an honor to meet you!" burst out of him and he examined me blatantly. "Are you really more than 700 years old?"

"400," I corrected graciously.

"Wow!" he uttered unbelievingly. "And you look so young! You must have experienced so much!" His eyes glowed with excitement but before he decided to sit down on the spot and have a cozy little chat I quickly turned around and with a distinct nod of my head indicated the house. He followed me instantly, not attempting to temper his slightly intrusive behavior at all.

"You know, I studied history for a few semesters," he went on uninhibitedly.

Yikes, here it comes!

"History has always been one of my favorite subjects. God, there is hardly anything more exciting! It's so dramatic, so cruel, so fantastic. All the things human kind has experienced in its short history…" He was all smiles, searching for a word of admiration which would describe his enthusiasm. "And you… you…"

'Oh, no, please don't,' I thought to myself.

"You were a contemporary witness!"

This was one of those rare moments when I wished I could turn a vampire back into a human. As a human he wouldn't have been able to utter a single word at the pace we were maintaining while carrying those heavy bags.

"Are you actually from Europe?" He didn't wait for an answer, not that he would have gotten one as I was not in the mood to tell him a single thing about my long life. He continued, "What a silly question. You really don't look like you were born an American!!!

God, compared to this chatterbox, even Logan was a blessing! Hopefully, we wouldn't need him for longer than it took to fix the generator. And I hoped he was as talented as Logan had promised and that the end result would make what I had to suffer worth while! It is really amazing how quickly some people can dampen one's spirits.

Apparently I opened the screen door a bit too vigorously when we reached the entrance of the house, for it ripped off the hinge at the top end and tilted sideways. Seth took a step back, startled.

"Oops-a-daisy!" he said heartily and didn't notice that I rolled my eyes while I pushed open the entrance door and stepped into the brightly illuminated house. To my surprise, it looked quite civilized in the living area. It seemed as if the others had cleaned up during my absence and had been able to make the living room at least fairly livable again. The only noticeable scars the struggle had left behind were the dented and crumbled walls.

Peterson had joined the others and now threw a passing glance at me as he concentrated on his medical discussion with August. Logan, who was apparently still a bit huffy as he didn't deign to look at me, sat on one of the armchairs, absorbed in a PC magazine. Hendrik, slouched on the couch next to the doctors, was the only one who noticed immediately that I wasn't alone. A frown appeared on his witless Neanderthal forehead but there was no other reaction.

"Logan!" exclaimed Seth after his gaze had flown across the faces of the other persons and stopped on the only other vampire he knew. He unintentionally pushed me aside with one of the bags he had hung around his neck and dashed towards his surprised friend enthusiastically.

"Seth!" Logan laughed and leaped to his feet embracing him with an almost blissful expression on his face. I watched the two of them with a disapproving frown, straightened the collar of my shirt and approached them reluctantly while they were patting each other on the back in a 'manly' fashion.

"Yeah, yeah, really touching reunion," I commented dryly and separated them. "Feel free to paw each other later but for now _my_ concern is much more important."

"Paw?" Logan repeated, annoyed. I paid him no further attention, but looked at Seth questioningly.

"Did you bring the clothes?"

The boy nodded eagerly, set down his bags and opened the trolley case.

The next moment I turned to ice. What Seth got out of the case was my worst nightmare: checked shirts, striped shirts, chinos, corduroys, and worst of all a Hawaiian shirt.

I coughed a few times before I was able to make any sound at all.

"When I told you to bring along some spare clothes, I didn't mean from _your_ wardrobe!" I tensely told him.

Seth responded with a shocked blink. He looked, confused, at the shirts in his hands and then shook his head slightly. "I didn't," he said innocently. "I went shopping while Daniel got the blood."

With a nod of his head he pointed at the other bag next to him as I starred at him vacantly.

"_I_ am supposed to wear _those_ things?!" I asked in a threateningly low voice. Before we came here I had, of course, thought of everything concerning Mick's and the other's primary welfare but had forgotten to bring extra clothes. There had been an 'emergency kit' once, but the clothing had fallen prey to a plague of moths and only the pajamas Mick was wearing had escaped their attack.

Logan gave me a shrug. "You can always continue to wear the things you're wearing now," he said. Was that a trace of spite I heard in his voice? "But honestly," he went on surprisingly serious, "I think these clothes are even better than your bloody shirt. You look really scary."

My lips crinkled into an overly friendly smile and I blinked at him lovingly. "Thank you, Logan. What would I do without you?"

"My goodness!" exclaimed August, who had come up to us curiously and with a half laugh asked "Is that really cord?"

"There, there are also cloth slacks," Seth stuttered, unsettled. He seemed to sense that his haul did not satisfy me. "I just thought that cord would probably keep you warmer when the weather begins to get colder."

"In Mexico," I added with a fake smile and Seth shrugged his shoulders helplessly. I turned away with a frustrated sigh and skimmed both hands over my face in an effort to calm myself down a bit. Relax! We had passed through much more terrible things the last few days.

Good heavens! What a catastrophe! I couldn't wear these clothes!

"And what the hell are _you _doing here?!" I snarled at Peterson who was still sitting on the couch watching us with blatant curiosity. He jerked heavily and probably wondered what he had done to deserve my anger. "You ought to stay with Mick!"

"I'll return there very soon," he said and stood up immediately. "But I needed a few minutes to relax a bit and, most of all, to eat something. Maybe you should eat also as you seem to be a bundle of nerves."

I uttered a shocked sound, but couldn't deny that he was right. The fight had weakened me and I urgently needed some blood. I could tell by the way Peterson's old, slightly lined neck, suddenly looked very enticing to me.

Jesus Christ! What was I becoming? A squeamish, checked-shirt, corduroy-wearing vampire who lusted for old men? I inwardly shook myself and quickly closed my eyes to stop my staring at Peterson's throbbing carotid. When I opened my eyes again it was dark all around me.

"No! Not again!" I could hear Logan's moan as the others also emitted disapproving sounds. The light flickered once, twice then it went out completely.

"Seems as if my services are urgently needed," Seth said cheerfully and I shot an angry glance at him which he noticed thanks to his vampire senses.

"Then go and do your job!" I growled at him.

"What? Now?" he dared to ask.

"No. Not until tomorrow," I replied with irony. "We want the freezers to get beautifully warm and our stored blood to become inedible."

Logan, who knew my outbursts of fury and had learned to read the corresponding signs in the past days grabbed his friend by his arm, grabbed the bag that he assumed held Seth's tools and pulled him to the door. "I'll show you were the generator is," I could hear him mumble before they disappeared out of my field of vision.

Somewhere a cell phone rang and Hendrik leaped to his feet, alarmed, as if Lance himself had caught him lounging around. He ripped the phone out of the pocket of his trousers so quickly that it slipped from his fingers but was able to catch it just before it hit the ground. Because of this he sounded a bit breathless when he finally said his name. Judging by his facial expression there was quite an important person at the other end of the phone. His eyes widened and all the color drained from his face. When he spoke again he was not able to utter more than a croaking sound. Nevertheless, I thought I discerned something that sounded like "Yes, Sir! Of course, Sir!" and then he quickly approached Peterson holding out the phone to the stunned man. I furrowed my brows in confusion. What did_ this_ mean?

"_He_ wants to talk to you," Hendrik explained under his breath as Peterson just looked at him, frowning. This caused a queasy feeling to spread in my stomach.

"Who does?" Peterson asked confused as he finally took the phone and lifted it to his ear. I went to him in an attempt to try to hear the entire conversation.

"Yes?" the professor asked into the silence at the other end of the phone.

"Are you Frank Peterson?" I heard a deep, cool voice which I'd not heard before say through the phone. "Did you treat Mick St. John at your research laboratory?" The way he said the word 'treat' made it clear how much he was repelled by the experiments in the laboratory, which, for once, wasn't a bad sign.

"Yes," Peterson admitted without mincing matters. "And who am I speaking with?"

"That's irrelevant," the stranger responded mildly but with such firmness that even I was reluctant to inquire any further. Also, I was certain I knew _who_ the mysterious caller was. And to be honest, the tension that was weighing on me increased distinctly with that knowledge.

"It is extremely important that you answer a few questions for me in order to stop certain people around me from becoming totally hysterical and circulating rumors which are producing turmoil and problems. Enough of that has happened."

Peterson nodded though the stranger couldn't see him. "Am I right in assuming that these questions are mainly about Mick St. John?" he asked.

"Yes," was the honest answer.

"Then I'll help you as much as I can."

"That's great," the stranger replied and I could almost hear his contented smile. "Well, can you explain to me what St. John is at the moment?"

Peterson furrowed his brows, straining to search for a term that got to the heart of the matter as quickly as possible. "Um, he's part vampire and part human."

"A hybrid?" was the direct inquiry.

Peterson's face lit up. "Yes," he admitted delightedly. "Yes, I think that's the right word."

"Is he viable in that state for any length of time?"

"Yes," the professor very quickly answered, to my relief. "He is, and I'm very optimistic concerning his progress."

"Does that mean he'll soon be able to control himself and no longer try to attack and wound other people, for example, some of my followers?"

"Without a doubt," Peterson responded with a confidence even_ I_ didn't own and I felt a wave of relief wash over me, bringing a small smile to my lips.

But the patriarch was persistent. "How long will the current state last?" he asked with a firm voice.

Peterson looked at me with a slight shrug, as if I was responsible for that difficult question. "That can't be foreseen yet. Maybe for a few weeks, maybe longer."

For a moment there was silence at the other end of the phone and I wasn't able to gage if this was a good or bad sign. Over the phone it is difficult to judge people you don't know.

"I give you three weeks," I heard _Him_ say through the line. "I absolutely can't allow you more time. Make him a civilized person again, one we can talk to and who can show us that we didn't just _take_ something of great importance from the _Legion_ but have also _won_ someone who makes us a lot stronger."

"Three weeks?" Peterson asked, clearly dismayed.

"Not a day longer," his dialog partner stayed adamant. "And I'll personally determine if St. John is able to act at least halfway civilized at that time."

Apparently he felt there was nothing more he wanted to add to this statement for a second later I could hear the dial tone signaling us that he had ended the call.

Peterson blinked at me through the darkness, slightly confused. "Does this vampire own the power that he's pretending to have?" he asked and winced when Hendrik harshly took the phone out of his hand. Being human, it wasn't easy to orient yourself in the dark. It was especially difficult when you moved among vampires.

"Yeah, he does," I admitted reluctantly and tensely rubbed my temples with both hands. "Will we be able to get this done? Within three weeks?"

The professor shrugged a bit helplessly. "I hope so."

I uttered an annoyed moan. "Can't you for _once_ make a clear statement?" I growled and felt all my anger again turn to the person standing in front of me.

Peterson reacted almost as expected, with a hesitant headshake. "It's really difficult to say right now. Look, I don't doubt that Mick's human side will recover very quickly, but I don't know if we'll be able to civilize the vampire inside him that quickly. I suspect they'll test especially this side of him in three weeks or try to knowingly provoke him to see what he does when he's under stress."

"Then we need to train him for that," I said as if it was the easiest thing in the world, although I didn't have the foggiest idea how to do it. "Leave it to me," I arrogantly added.

For a very long moment Peterson looked dubiously at me, but then he nodded hesitantly.

"Well, then I'll look in on him," he said nervously. He turned around and carefully groped his way through the living area toward the corridor. A loud thump was heard when he bumped his hip against a dresser and suppressed a cry of pain.

"A bit more to the left," I helped him, without enthusiasm, and couldn't stop a nasty grin when he crashed into the wall this time.

"Not that far," I added and followed him, placing my lunch break on hold once again. I could tell Peterson felt uncomfortable when I grabbed his arm and hastily pushed him through the hall to Mick's room. He was able to sense that my anger was still not gone. I stopped dead when I noticed that the door of Mick's room was opened wide and Peterson could also see it for there was enough moonlight falling into the corridor.

"I… I actually closed it," he stuttered as I let go of him and stormed into the room. Mick's bed was empty and I could clearly smell that the old vampire who slumbered in his veins had for some reason woken up once again.

"I don't understand," Peterson, who had entered the room shortly after me, said. "He was in a very deep sleep."

"He's a vampire again," I interrupted him impatiently. "Is he always hungry when he wakes up?"

Peterson nodded with great discomfort. I didn't waste any time and hurried past him. There was only one other human in this house, one other source of food.

* * *

She was alone, all alone in this dark room, her arms and legs strapped onto a stretcher and her body numbed by the drugs which someone had injected into her a few hours ago. Very slowly the effect lessened and brought back the pain, the cramping and the stinging in her musculature. She knew they would come back soon. It was time.

She couldn't discern much in this room which looked more like a cell, a cell without windows or light. Even if there had been a window, she wouldn't have been able to discern much of anything for everything around her was blurry and dancing to and fro. There, opposite her stretcher, had to be a door. A thin, bright stripe of light on the floor told her that there was life outside of this dungeon and other people, who were now approaching. They were announced by the shadows they cast a moment before the door opened. Panic flashed through her limp body and mobilized what little strength was still slumbering inside her when three shapes, clothed in white, stepped up to her, with deformed and distorted faces and weirdly echoing voices. Beth's heart beat hard in her chest and pounded at her temples while she struggled with all her strength to break the leather straps holding her on the stretcher and making her defenseless. She felt sick with fear and rage at the monsters who had done this to her, every day, week after week, month after month.

Frank wasn't here because he couldn't bear to watch when they did the experiments that lured the beast out in order to examine and test it. She was alone, all alone, trapped in this hell.

One of the men got something longish out of his white coat, something her numbed senses weren't able to recognize clearly. But she didn't need to recognize it, she knew what would happen. No matter what they did, they hurt her so much that the beast just _had_ to appear, had to rise up, to fight and to heal her wounds, even though it was pointless.

The pain was hot and burning and so terrible that Beth wasn't able to scream when she started up from her sleep. She desperately struggled for breath, rolled off the bed and stumbled to the window. Only when she had ripped it open and sucked the cool air of the night into her lungs had the reverberation of this horrible nightmare died away and the hammering beat of her heart calmed down. Beth wasn't able to prevent a deep sob from coming out of her throat and the first tears ran down her cheeks. Her whole body was shaking and she was still breathing much too fast and gulping for air. Nevertheless, her mind started to slowly clear.

Again, such a terrible dream, it felt so real. After the last dream, she had been almost certain that she had been connected with Mick in some strange way. What if this time it was the same thing? Of course, Mick was no longer in captivity but maybe his past was haunting his dreams and for some unknown reason she had shared it with him. God, what cruel things did those people do to him? How horrible it must be for him to live through this again and again in his dreams. Mick needed her, now. At this thought Beth pushed away from the window and hurried to the door. After that horrible dream, it didn't matter who was watching him at the moment or how much Josef fought against it, she_ had_ to be at Mick's side.

She tore the door open and to her surprise noticed that the whole house was in darkness again. She could hear voices from the living room and the ringing of a cell phone but no one else seemed to be in a panic or to be a quarter as agitated as she was. This was no surprise as no one else had experienced what she had just a few minutes ago.

Beth groped her way along the corridor and froze when she noticed the door to Mick's room was wide open. She threw a hasty glance into it and saw instantly that the room was empty. Her mind began operating at full speed. She had gasped for air when she had started up from her sleep. Probably Mick had done the same. Before she had completed her thought, she ran down the corridor toward the side entrance closest to Mick's room. The door was wide open and Beth knew instantly that her assumption was right. Mick had stormed outside but she could see neither hide nor hair of him.

It was a starry night and the moon cast its cool light on the bleak landscape around her. There were a few scattered clusters of trees some steps away and off in the distance she could pick up the lights of another house, as well as the dark outlines of a barn. But she could see no other movement anywhere.

"Mick?" she called hesitantly not sure she would receive an answer. Her fingers ran shakily over her mouth. "Oh God, oh God," she prayed quietly. "Please, don't let him have run far, please!" Who could say what he would do in his disorientated state?

Her gaze desperately searched for his shape in the dark, for some movement, for a sign that he was somehow still nearby. Why, oh, why had they left him alone?

"Mick?" she asked again with a quivering voice. But the night was silent and she got no answer. A light breeze came up and penetrated the thin fabric of her T-shirt causing her to shiver. It was as if the breeze was trying to tell her it would be better to go back into the house. Disregarding it she took some undecided steps then stopped shaking her head. She doubted that she would be able to find him on her own. She needed the trained eyes of the vampires in the house. She needed Josef.

Without hesitation she turned and hurried back to the entrance. She stepped through the door and shrieked with fear when two dark shapes came into view, silhouetted against the light of the moon. Two strong hands grabbed her shoulders.

"Are you all right?" she heard Josef's concerned voice and managed a short nod.

"Is Mick with you?" he asked her instantly and now she noticed Peterson at his side looking past her into the darkness. So, they had also discovered that Mick had disappeared.

"No," she replied tensely. "He's gone Josef! He's somewhere out there and who knows where he will run in his panic!"

Josef pushed her aside and stepped outside. Beth followed him and noticed he had closed his eyes and was breathing in the air around him in the same way she had seen Mick do so often when he was tracking someone. When he opened his eyes again he looked even more worried than before.

"If I'm not mistaken he went towards the main building," Josef said and looked past Beth.

"Toward our hosts?" she heard Kendlroe's voice right behind her and winced in shock. Jesus Christ! Why did these damn vampires always sneak up on her that way?! Couldn't they just _once_ try to make noise when they where approaching humans they weren't planning to bite?

"Then he's gone to get himself a little snack," said a deep voice into her other ear. Beth jumped a little in the other direction and cast a very angry look at the unknown vampire who had been left here by Lance and was grinning at her.

Josef also looked at him disapprovingly. "That's what we're going to prevent together right now," he said in a voice that didn't tolerate dissent and Beth could clearly sense that the other two vampires weren't happy with this task. But they deferred to Josef's rigid glance and followed him into the darkness. Beth was stopped as she tried to follow as well.

"You stay here!" Josef snarled at her with annoyance and she stopped dead in her tracks before she had walked half a meter. "Mick isn't human at the moment and is much too unpredictable."

"But you…," she started but Peterson grabbed her and prevented her from following Josef as he hurried away without looking back.

"I've given him the anesthetic," the professor explained and pulled her with a surprisingly firm grip back to the house. "They'll manage. They are much faster and stronger than we are. We would just be a burden to them."

"But Mick isn't looking for blood," she explained to him as she followed him grudgingly. "He's just in a panic."

"Yeah, maybe at the beginning, but then he'll need blood, Beth," he countered. "Even if he hasn't done any harm to you, he's dangerous. Let the vampires settle this. Nothing will happen to him except that he'll sleep again."

Beth freed herself from Peterson's grip with an impatient movement just as he was able to push her into the house. "That has to stop at some point!" she said forcefully. "If he is constantly drugged he has no chance to learn to control his vampire side on his own!"

"Yes, but it's still much too early for that!" Peterson replied and stared nervously into the darkness.

"You just say that because you're afraid," Beth returned.

Peterson's gaze searched her eyes again. "Yes, I am," he openly admitted. "But not without good reason. I've seen the vampire inside him attack several men like a predator would, killing them within seconds. It was like he had rabies as he ripped their flesh open. You never forget something like that, the screams and the smell of blood."

"But you cannot jail and drug him forever because of what happened," she finally managed to say and was a bit confused when Peterson immediately shook his head.

"I really don't want that," he conceded. "I just worry about you, Beth, and about me. We are mortal and the most fragile beings here. Don't forget that in your love for him!"

Beth dropped her gaze and looked pensively at her naked feet, which had gotten quite cold from the icy ground. She forgot a lot of things when she was worried about Mick and the professor wasn't wrong concerning this matter.

Finally she nodded and looked up to him again. "You're right," she admitted reluctantly. "Maybe I want too much too soon. But you have to promise me that you're going to give the vampire in Mick a chance to live, too."

Peterson gave her a soft smile and nodded. "I promise," he said firmly. "Will you come in with me now?"

She took a deep breath and looked up into the dark night sky.

"In a moment," she promised seriously. "I just want to stay outside for a few minutes and try to calm down a bit."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to run after Josef," she added when she saw mistrust glimmering in the professor's eyes. After a short moment of hesitation he contented himself with her assertion and disappeared into the house.

Beth sighed deeply and heavily. Even if Peterson was right to be worried, she didn't like it that everyone around Mick, including Josef, assumed that the vampire in him was a threat to everyone. No one else seemed to have noticed the fear and pain showing distinctly in his silvered eyes every time he vamped out. No one felt sympathy for the tormented vampire, no one tried to approach him in a soft, peaceful manner so how could he behave peacefully himself? And he hadn't run away to feed! He had been in a panic which was no surprise after such a nightmare. He didn't want to hurt or kill someone, he was just afraid.

Beth's inner turmoil was growing again. Josef and the others would only unsettle and frighten him even more. But what could she do? She could only wait here listening to the sounds out there in the night and hope that all would be over very quickly, that they wouldn't scare Mick too much before they tranquilized him.

A crackling in one of the clusters of trees not far away from her caused her to spin around, terrified. Instantly her heart beat at a quickened pace. She screwed up her eyes and tried to distinguish any shadows among the boughs.

There! Something was moving, very carefully, as if it was afraid of detection. At once Beth mouth went dry and the hammering of her own heart echoed unnaturally loudly in her ears. Either this was a big animal moving between the crippled trees or… or it was Mick, who had returned without being noticed by Josef and the others. She took a few uncertain steps towards the row of trees but then stopped. If it was Mick, what would she be able to do? How could she coax him back into the house? How could she calm him down if he was still a vampire who was in a state of shock? What if Peterson was right and he was indeed craving her blood? Was she really sure that he wasn't capable of killing her inadvertently?

Beth stared at the dark shadow which had moved but now stood still as if it had turned to stone. Maybe her senses had simply played a trick on her because she just couldn't stand idly by and do nothing. Or maybe the soft wind which was now blowing through her clothes had moved a few of the bigger branches.

Yes, of course! There it was again, a movement, very faint, as if someone was ducking down.

"Mick?" Her voice, not louder than a whisper, was nearly drowned out by her heartbeat. She inhaled deeply and began to move again. Mick needed her and she wouldn't back off although Peterson's fear was slowly enveloping her. She had a special connection to Mick and she thought he would know who she was and that she wanted to help him.

'He won't hurt you. He won't,' she comforted herself, and the certainty she felt as she was moving towards Mick grew with every step she took. She couldn't really see much of him but there was a feeling inside her, as if she would somehow _feel_ his presence. Her legs were a bit wobbly as she slipped through a small gap between a trunk and a shriveled bush and froze in place, terrified, when a muffled, threatening snarl sounded nearby. Her gaze flew over the trees and bushes and stopped on the contours of a crouched shape that just barely stood out from the dark background of several knobby tree trunks.

"Mick?" Beth whispered once more and her heart hammered painfully in her chest. The figure moved slightly and froze again. Moonlight fell on its face and glinted off the reflecting catlike eyes of the vampire who was belligerently baring his teeth just two meters away from her.

Beth knew full well that Mick was in a totally different state than he had been just a few hours ago and one wrong movement could cause him to attack her. Every fiber of his body was strained with tension. He hadn't woken up to protect her but to escape the nightmares haunting him and Beth wasn't sure if the vampire in front of her knew that he had succeeded in waking or knew that he had nothing to fear from anyone, least of all her.

Nevertheless, she couldn't back out now because if she moved suddenly it would certainly arouse his hunting instincts and make this situation much worse. So Beth crouched down very slowly, hoping and praying that this wouldn't be too much movement.

Mick crouched down a bit more. His hands touched the ground, propping himself up. His eyes were open wide and he was staring into her face, intensifying the impression that there was a wild animal in front of her who was barely able to discern a friend from a foe. It was not the right time to doubt her actions, but Beth couldn't help thinking about it. She began slowly to feel anxious about this situation, but most of all she felt so terribly alone. Why did she always have to act so rashly? Hadn't life blatantly shown her often enough that she continued putting herself into unnecessary danger?

"All is well," she whispered as calmly as she could, but couldn't prevent her voice from being a bit shaky. 'Stay calm, Turner!' she snapped at herself inwardly. 'You can handle this!'

"It was just a dream. No one here is going to hurt you, Mick." She inadvertently held her breath for a moment as he tilted his head a bit and the light of the moon reflected in his eyes in a way that terrified her. She had to clear her throat quietly in order to speak. Her throat had corded up slowly while fear was permeating every hidden corner of her body despite her struggle with herself and her strong belief in the good side of this vampire.

"You can control it, Mick," she said as firmly as was possible. "You can gain back control of yourself again. I know it. I believe in you!"

Mick didn't react the way she had hoped he would, the way she had needed him to in order to give her back confidence in her act. He stretched himself toward her, closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in her smell, the smell of her blood. When he opened his eyes again his gaze had changed. The fear was replaced by a new need: Hunger.

And suddenly the panic came, switching off her reason within seconds and causing her to react reflexively although it only _seemed _as if he wanted to move toward her. She whipped round and dashed off toward the house, cursing herself for she knew full well that this was absolutely the worst thing she could do in this situation. The house wasn't far and her feet almost flew over the stony ground, but she had no chance to reach the door. She could feel him before he touched her, before he grabbed her and spun her around so that she crashed backwards into the wall of the house. He threw himself against her, pinned her between the wall and his own hard body so that she had to fight for air. Nevertheless, she somehow managed to lift her arm in time and to press it against his throat and with great difficulty to keep his face, his sharp fangs which were hurtling towards her carotid artery, away from her. God, had he always been this tall?

"No! Mick!" she screamed with a mixture of panic and anger in her voice while she could feel his greedy breath on her neck and the hammering of his heart on her chest. "You don't do this! Mick! You don't!"

It was one thing to give him her blood willingly, but this, this way scared her terribly. This way he would certainly kill her. He had to stop and to come to his senses again. But, how could she reach the human inside him, the only person who could help her at this moment?

"Look at me!" she gasped as she needed all her strength to keep him from biting her. Despite her own panic she brought her other hand to his face and pushed his head back with all her might so that he was forced to look into her eyes. "Look at me, Mick! You don't do that! Do you hear me? Do you _hear_ me?!"

It sounded more like a command than pleading, and to her surprise it somehow seemed to have an effect. Something stirred inside him. There was a flicker in his gaze which told her that he had begun to struggle with himself.

"You'll make it, you'll make it," she whispered, while the arm keeping him at bay slowly started to tremble. Her strength was leaving her much too soon. But it seemed as if she felt the pressure of his body abate slightly.

Her thoughts raced as she searched for a way to awaken the human in Mick. Memories welled up in her. Memories of a less dangerous situation which was similar to this one rose up inside her. And before the thought ended, before she realized what she was doing, she grabbed his face with both hands, rose to her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his slightly opened mouth.

'Are you insane?!' screamed the voice of reason inside her. 'He can rip your lips up!'

But he didn't. Instead, he froze, not making the slightest motion, even when she pulled back a bit and looked at him, searching for a sign that Mick's human was waking and assuming control. But that hadn't happened. He remained a vampire but the look in his white eyes had changed. They showed a trace of confusion and, was that warmth?

A small smile twitched around the corners of Beth's mouth. Whatever was happening had caused the wild animal in Mick to calm down and showed he wasn't as totally uncontrollable as everyone thought. The question was, to what extent was the vampire able to contain himself, how much control would he have over his unbelievable strength and how badly did he want to_ use_ that control? One thing was absolutely certain: he had reacted positively to her tender touches and she needed to continue to use them in this situation if she wanted to help him and herself, too.

Beth hesitated for a few seconds then she pulled his head down to her and softly kissed his forehead, his nose and then his lips again and, in doing so, encouraged this new feeling inside of him, this distinctly growing affection for her. He didn't respond to her kiss but let her do as she liked. It was as if he was experiencing such endearments for the first time in a very long time and didn't know how to react to them. But Beth didn't care. Their body contact was still so intense that she could feel the tension slowly leaving his muscles, could feel his body getting softer and warmer and his heartbeat slowing down. She smiled against his lips and looked at him, looked up into his light eyes. His unwavering gaze was searching unbelievingly for the reason for her behavior. And suddenly she recognized so much of Mick's personality in their depths that her fears flew away as quickly as they had appeared.

"You won't hurt me," she whispered and caressed his face lovingly. Even when he bent his head down a bit and his nose touched her forehead in exactly the spot where her bruise was, her fear didn't return. She was a bit surprised when Mick inhaled deeply, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to his body.

Beth held her breath when his mouth roamed, just a few millimeters above her skin, down her temple to her ear and then down to her neck. This caused a little bit of her fear to come back and her heartbeat pounded loudly in her head again. But fear was not the only feeling that quickened her pulse. His half naked body was pressed lengthwise against hers and she could feel it with every nerve of her body through the thin fabric of her clothing. It felt too familiar, too much like Mick. She wouldn't listen to reason which was telling her that the game she was involved in was much too dangerous and could easily get out of control.

A shiver ran down her spine when his lips brushed the delicate skin of her neck and caused a totally different feeling to go down to the lower regions of her confused body, while at the same time she expected him to pierce her skin with his fangs at any minute and take what he needed. That thought increased her fear, but not enough to say anything to try to persuade him to let go of her. Instead, she just waited, breathing heavily, heart beating like mad, waited for the pain, for the feeling of sharp teeth boring into her flesh.

She winced when his lips touched her skin again, slid quickly but incredibly sensually over the spot where the throbbing of her carotid was visible. But he didn't bite her. It almost seemed as if he was asking for permission, as if he was holding back purposely to show her that she meant something to him, that he wouldn't take her blood if she didn't want him to. And that was enough for her to know that she could trust him, even in this state. He wouldn't kill her. Not ever. And if he needed her blood he should have it.

She swallowed heavily and closed her eyes. Then she moved her head aside and with a wildly beating heart waited.

His warm breath blew caressingly over her skin before his lips pressed against her neck, now more urgently. She held her breath when she felt his tongue sliding with soft pressure over her skin, leaving goose bumps in their wake. Beth let her breath out again, trembling slightly. This was in no way terrifying. It was simply breathtaking, sensual and thrilling.

Hot and cold waves rushed through her veins when Mick started to suck on her neck without biting her or hurting her in any way and a soft moan escaped her lips. A familiar traction in her belly told her clearly that this was moving into a direction she hadn't considered before. She inhaled with a hiss when his fangs finally sank into her flesh as softly and cautiously as he was able to do it. It wasn't painful, but it was different. It was so very different from the bite on her wrist just a few days ago. And then something happened as he started to suck in her blood. She was swamped with the substances Josef had told her about. It felt as if electricity was running from the bite through her veins and into every little blood vessel, inducing vibrations in her whole body. One shiver after another ran down her back and caused the prickling to concentrate in her belly, causing a state of utmost excitement. She exhaled, gasping, wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes again. She was becoming addicted to this exciting new feeling that made her legs turn to jelly and numbed her mind so that she didn't notice anything else around her. She felt like she was in a strong, ineffable state of intoxication from which she didn't ever _want_ to wake.

From far away she suddenly heard a voice. Someone said something to Mick which caused him to instantly let go of her neck, utter a threatening growl and push her behind his back. Beth took a few stumbling steps and blinked a few times but that cottony feeling that had cocooned her so enticingly didn't go away easily. Nevertheless, she recognized Josef in the moonlight moving ever so carefully toward them and lifting both hands as if he wanted to show that he was totally harmless. But he wasn't alone. Very close to Beth Kendlroe appeared out of nowhere and jumped at Mick who had planted himself protectively in front of her. He knocked Beth off her feet and managed at the same time to inject the anesthetic into Mick's neck.

The weak "No!" died on Beth's lips as Mick fell to his knees right beside her. Surprisingly, this time the serum didn't seem to take hold as quickly. Mick propped himself up on his hands, screwed up his eyes and struggled visibly with his own body. His combative spirit was still alive. His silvered eyes were full of rage and bloodlust when he lifted his lids again, casting a glance at Kendlroe that made her blood run cold. He gritted his teeth and uttered an angry snarl finally getting back on his feet. The other vampire backed away from him, horrified when Mick staggered a few steps toward him. But then his strength left him and he slumped to the ground.

Beth still couldn't think clearly as she struggled to her feet. When she turned to Josef she knew she was in trouble, big trouble. The look he gave her was terribly determined, like it hadn't been in such a long time.


	21. Nocturnal decision

_*__And here I am again with a new chapter. This time it's a little bit shorter but the next one will be longer again and I'm optimistic that I'll be able to post it at Sunday evening. I thank you so, so much for your feedback again and as you can see it really helps to get the chapters ready more quickly. This time I have to thank Cleo again for the translation of the chapter and Jo for the beta-reading! Feel hugged again you two! I hope you all will enjoy the new chapter as much as I enjoyed your reviews! Best wishes, Jenna*_

* * *

**N****octurnal decision **

It happens very rarely that I am speechless. But when it does happen it is normally a lapse of only a few seconds and not the many minutes of continuous silence I was experiencing now. I had folded my hands as if in prayer and pressed my forefingers against my lips as I walked up and down in the middle of the brightly illuminated living room. Every now and then I stopped and looked at Beth with a frown on my face as she sat on the couch in front of me along with Peterson. I inhaled again but was not able to produce a single word.

Beth, who had a few strands of her tangled hair hanging in her face, was pale and seemed to still be a little bit paralyzed. It was no wonder after what Mick had done to her. It had seemed as if his vampire side had suddenly remembered how to give pleasure to the human he was biting.

I could remember well the wild times when Mick had been quite attached to fresh blood from the vein and because of that also to pretty freshies. But at the same time he had always felt guilty about it so it had been enormously important for him to figure out how he could give the women, who gave themselves to him freely, the greatest possible pleasure during the bite. He succeeded and from that point forward he had been able to almost equal his teacher who had more than three hundred years more experience. It had always been a special treat to watch him back then and to observe how the women in his arms melted to wax and uttered sounds you would usually only hear during other delicate situations.

Also, Beth had given the impression that she had given herself to him willingly and appreciatively which suggested that he had clearly been careful with her. It really surprised me because it meant that his vampire side had won back a piece of his mind and humanity. Nevertheless, it instantly became clear to me that I had to intervene. A vampire can loose control very quickly, especially if the vampire is very compulsive and is seemingly also afflicted with a sexual craving. Beth had been much too spaced out to realize the danger. But now that she was sitting in front of me looking me in the eyes, she knew, of course, that I wouldn't approve of what had happened between them. She knew I was deeply worried and saw that I felt forced to draw the necessary conclusions about this whole situation. Conclusions which she undoubtedly wouldn't like. What she _didn't_ know, was that my decision had already been made and it would _definitely_ not appeal to her! In the short time that our two doctors had taken in treating Mick and Beth I had made a few telephone calls and settled everything.

My problem now was that I didn't know how I could break my decision to Beth without kicking off a huge argument. I simply no longer had the strength or the nerves to endure an argument; however, I was aware that getting out of this situation without one was a utopian dream.

Beth heaved a deep sigh. "Please, would you say something, Josef?" she asked me firmly and in doing so she took the question of how to start this unpleasant conversation out of my hands. Um, maybe I could motivate her to go on with the rest as well.

"What do you think I _should_ say, Beth?" I said calmly stopping in front of her and crossing my arms over my chest. "What would _you_ say in my position if you had seen yourself like that?"

She shrugged her shoulders and her complexion looked instantly much healthier. "I ... I don't know," she stammered, taken by surprise. "Maybe that it was a really stupid idea trying to calm Mick down on my own."

I looked up at the ceiling quickly and then nodded in agreement. "That sounds okay up to a point," I said and looked at her again. "But more appropriate would be: can you explain to me what's gotten into you, Beth? Apparently at times you've become a bit weary of life."

Beth gasped for breath. "That... that... Mick wouldn't have killed me!"

Aha! I knew it. My dear friend had talked herself into believing that Mick wasn't a danger to her and that the rest of us were just overreacting. I had never believed it before but love really did seem to make some people blind.

It was inappropriate in this situation to laugh but I still did. "The vampire who was attached to your throat," I added sternly and pointed with my index finger toward the direction of the room in which Mick slept guarded by three vampires, "is stronger and wilder than anyone I've ever personally met in my entire life up to now. And we're talking about more then four hundred years of life experience, Beth! A moment ago he didn't only knock out but almost killed two vampires who are a lot older than he is! He's already bit me and you and didn't really give me the impression that he knew what he was doing. Do you seriously think that he'd be able to stop drinking your blood in time before he seriously injures you? And do you really believe I would allow you to test his control?"

Beth only looked at me with wide eyes and shook her head but not because she wanted to calm me. Oh, no, she held a different opinion.

"Mick isn't as out of control as all of you think," she began but I stopped her with a short-tempered gesture.

"No Beth, but he isn't as _harmless_ as _you_ think!" I snapped at her indignantly. "Have you even heard what Frank has been trying to tell us for days now?!"

She inhaled but I didn't let give her the chance to speak.

"Mick is completely unpredictable at the moment, even for a doctor like him!" My finger hurtled so suddenly toward Peterson that he recoiled a bit, looking scared. "He isn't the same person he was once! And it'll take a long time until he begins to find himself again!"

"I know that!" she used the short moment in which I had to inhale. "But it isn't very helpful if everyone here sees one part of him as a dangerous monster that needs to be sedated any time it wakes up! The vampire inside him deserves a chance, too!" She glared at me in outrage and for a long moment words failed me. Of course, I was aware that she was right to a certain extent. For years I had preached to Mick that he shouldn't mistreat his vampire side, that he had to give the vampire a chance, but this whole situation was so different, so new, that it called for other measures, at least as long as there were humans here who were endangered by the wild vampire inside Mick.

With her trained reporter senses Beth noticed my hesitation immediately. "He is no monster, Josef," she tried to make her position clear to me in a much softer voice. "It's ... it's just wrong to split him into these two halves and to demonize one of them. It's about the _whole_ human, or half vampire or whatever. We should help him to join his two sides and not to fight against one of them."

"Do you really believe I see it differently?" I replied, with the same calmness. "You should actually know me better, Beth. _I_'m not the one who always sees vampires as beasts and despises their lifestyle. And like you, I'm also of the opinion that Mick shouldn't get sedatives all too often."  
I noticed that Peterson tensed up a bit at my words but I ignored him.

"He must also learn to control himself as a vampire," I continued. "And like you, I believe that he can manage this. But I cannot allow him to endanger you in doing that. I ... I can't let you be close to him any longer as long as he's more vampire than human and doesn't have control of his vampire side."

For a moment Beth looked at me speechlessly. Her mind was much too sharp not to get what I wanted to tell her with these words. But she didn't want to believe it. She just couldn't.

"What ... what are you trying to say, Josef?" she asked in a tone which made it clear to me that she wouldn't accept my decision, under any circumstances. The argument was inevitable so I straightened my shoulders and breathed deeply.

"Daniel will take you with him to L.A. when he leaves in a few hours," I said and prepared myself for the expected explosion. "I've reserved a room at a nice hotel for you, and Simone will look after you as long as you're there."

"What?!" Beth looked at me like I had lost my mind and reacted as I had earlier, with a disbelieving laugh. "You can't be serious, Josef!"

"You don't know how much," I said firmly. "I know that you have a special connection to Mick, but you've shown several times that you're not always able to think rationally when it concerns Mick. With your extensive willingness to give him your blood, you're putting yourself in danger. And I can't allow that."

Beth shook her head disbelievingly. "It's ... it's not _your_ decision. And I know what I'm doing. I ... I won't go."

"Yes, you will," I said firmly.

Again she forced a laugh. "No. Under no circumstances! You can't make me leave."

"Concerning strength I'm head and shoulders above you, Beth. Believe me, I _can_!" My eyes bored into hers threateningly but she wasn't impressed in the least and jumped up.

"Mick needs me!" she responded with emphasis and put her hands on her hips. I was the only one who noticed that she swayed a bit. The effect of the vampire bite wasn't gone yet. "I'm staying here! You ... you can't make decisions about my life so easily."

I bent down to her a bit and knitted my eyebrows dangerously. "And you can't risk your life thoughtlessly just because you believe you know Mick better than everyone else here does!"

"It's _my_ life, Josef!" Beth snapped at me angrily and lifted her chin, looking defiantly at me. "I can do with it whatever I want!"

Hadn't we already had this discussion? Although this time I wouldn't give in. My decision was unalterably fixed.

"No, you can't!" I ground out angrily as I grabbed her shoulders and shook her lightly. "Because this isn't just about you but it's also about Mick! For all I care, you could have an orgy in your apartment and let twenty vampires suck on your body at the same time and I wouldn't interfere..."

What a miserable lie!

"...but Mick is my best friend and he loves you to death. Do you really believe he could cope with killing you by mistake? Do you believe he would be able to go on living if that were to happen?"

She stared at me with wide eyes while the meaning of my words and their truth sank in.

"I can't allow you to risk your life. You're too important to him." And to me, too, but I couldn't say it to her. I didn't even want to admit it to myself.

Tears were clearly sparkling in Beth's eyes, a sure sign that she finally understood what I was trying to say and that my fears were justified. But she still struggled with herself and her own need to be close to Mick after this long period of separation, no matter how unreasonable that wish was.

"He ... he wouldn't kill me," she replied with a husky voice.

"Can you promise me that with one-hundred percent certainty, Beth?" I asked gently and looked at her forcefully. Beth wrestled with herself and her lips moved like she wanted to say something, but then she lowered her gaze.

"See," I said quietly. "And I can't let myself take that chance. Not when it's about yours and Mick's life. You need to understand that, Beth."

She raised her head and breathed in deeply. "Yes ... yes, I do," she admitted unwillingly. "But I ..." she shook her head. "I can't go, Josef. I can't leave him now. He needs me."

"It's only for a few days," I interrupted her. "Only as long as Peterson needs to strengthen the human inside Mick enough that he can control his wild side better. I don't expect anything more than that."

"But why can't I stay here? You could protect me and I would promise that I won't get close to him when I'm on my own."

I shook my head. "No, Beth. I don't want to have you around him in any way these next few days. You've given him your blood so often now that he's already fixated on it. If he turns again, and he will, he'll immediately start hunting for you. I have no idea how strong he will become or if we will be able to control him enough so that he's no danger to you. You've seen how wild he is and it's enough that we have to protect Peterson from him."

I could read in Beth's face how she desperately searched for arguments to stay here, but my fears were well-founded. She had no chance to fight it because her own alert, logical mind was on my side. She shook her head desperately a few times and then plunked down onto the couch dejectedly.

I knew that I had won, but strangely I almost felt worse than before. The thought that Beth wouldn't be with us the next few days caused me to feel similarly depressed. We had gotten through everything together up until now and somehow she had given me more calmness and strength than I would have usually been able to find alone. We were quite a good team when it came to Mick and a very large part of me protested strongly against my cautiousness and the preventive steps I was taking for Beth's protection.

"How long, exactly?" Beth asked bravely and looked at me again. The tears in her eyes had disappeared but somehow she seemed more exhausted and strained than before. Just the thought of being separated from Mick again, even if it was just for a few days, was hard for her to bear.

My eyes went to Peterson, who had followed our argument with great uneasiness but had restrained himself. He immediately understood the request in my eyes.

"I ... I think no longer than a week," he stammered in Beth's direction.

She opened her eyes wide with horror. "A week?!" she repeated upset and stood up with a jerk. "No, Josef! Never!" She walked away from me a few steps shaking her head and protested. "I ... I can't do that!"

"Maybe fewer," the professor pointed out quickly. "Five, six days..."

I looked at him frowning but he nodded to me optimistically and then stood up to approach Beth.

"Miss Turner, it isn't about tormenting you and Mick," he said as gently as possible and tried to follow Beth who had started to pace back and forth in the room in outrage as I had done before. "We both want to protect you. And if you're honest with yourself you know Mick would want it, too."  
That was really a clever move. Why hadn't I thought of it?

"Yes, because he despises himself more than anyone else here," she replied with a cheerless laugh. "It has always been like that but that doesn't mean that it's okay or that he's right. Vampires aren't the evil monsters everybody thinks they are!"

Very true! Beth said exactly what I was thinking but I couldn't admit it to her under these circumstances so I maintained my noble silence.

"I know that," Peterson admitted now, too. "Vampires are the most misjudged creatures of our society. Evil, dark, dangerous; those are the words that most humans associate with them or more likely with the "vampire" mythos. Very few really believe in them. But in my opinion, and I'm speaking here as a scientist as well as a human, they're basically the most incredible and admirable creatures of this whole world."

Ah! Listen to this! Peterson slowly but surely began to earn some points from me for his sympathy. But I would never have admitted aloud to liking him better!

"But because of it, I can't forget how dangerous they can be for us humans especially when they loose control of themselves," he added warningly.

Beth looked at me but I had decided to take a backseat for now. Peterson did his job well because I could clearly see that Beth was slowly calming down again and starting to brood.

"From the viewpoint of a doctor who has had a lot of experiences with vampires and vampire-human-hybrids this last year, I would advice you strongly to get out of Mick's reach for a while," Peterson continued and got Beth's attention again. "Mr. Kostan is right when he says that Mick is unpredictable and dangerous for all of us at the moment. For at least as long as the balance between his two sides hasn't been firmly established. And for that to happen I really need a bit more time."

Beth wanted to say something, but like me, he didn't give her a chance to speak.

"I also think that your positive influence on Mick is enormous," he went on instead. "But it isn't a guarantee that he won't do anything to hurt you. We cannot know for certain and he loves you so much that it would kill him if he hurts you in any way."

Beth's gaze lowered again and she had to breathe deeply to get enough strength to speak the next words. "Five to six days?" she asked quietly.

Peterson nodded. "Five to six days," he confirmed and smiled softly. "I promise it."

Deep relief streamed through my body when I saw her nodding even if it was in a restrained manner. She couldn't look at me when she turned around still very agitated and went with fast steps past me to the corridor. I didn't stop her. I knew that she had to be alone for a while and I was sure that I was the last one she wanted to talk to. I had to admit to myself that it hurt a bit but was to be expected because in the end it was me who separated her from Mick no matter how good my intentions were. However, that wasn't the only reason why I didn't feel good when I sat down, atypically clumsy for a vampire, onto the couch with a deep sigh. I already knew that it would be an exhausting and hard time without her. But she would be safe, at least for a short while, protected from Mick and her own foolish acts and that was all that mattered. Although she couldn't be allowed to stay away for too long because she was profoundly right about one thing: Mick needed her. He needed her warmth and love in order to become a normal human, to finally start living again and to show the whole world that sometimes there is still something like justice in this universe.


	22. Talks

_*__It's Sunday and my new chapter is indeed ready. I thank you again so much for your feedback and support. It's great to see, that there are more and more people who read my story and like it. And now I wish you all much fun with the new chapter. Best wishes, Jenna*_

_P.S. SG6169: Cleo has created a discussion thread about 'Newborn' at the Alex O'Loughlin International Forum. It's in English and if you or some of the others want to talk about the story you can do it there.  
_

_sarcasm-the lowest form of wit: I thank you so much for your offer to help me. I'll send you a message as soon as possible. It would be great if you could overwork a few chapters._

* * *

**T****alks**

_1951 was a wonderful year, full of pleasant surprises, new fruitful acquaintances and successful business transactions. Los Angeles was a beautiful city with almost never ending possibilities for a man like me to make his fortune. Nevertheless I had planned, based on my business concepts, to move my residence to New York for a while but had yet to find a satisfying residence in the Upper Eastside. However, I had to stay in L.A. for a few more weeks to finalize the local transactions and pay a last visit to several acquaintances._

_Nathan Gruber was both an acquaintance and a business partner and owned several clubs and restaurants in Beverly Hills. His businesses hadn't done well for a period of time and I had helped him to get over his financial crisis with a partnership in a few of them. By now his company had recovered well and we decided to meet to sign a contract to turn over ownership of the _White Doves_ which included an ample gratuity for me._

_The _White Doves_ was a classic restaurant with several dance floors that were often booked for parties and dance nights for the upper class. With its light, slightly sentimental and flowery flair, it actually wasn't one of the locations I usually liked to check out. There were fake Greek columns around the dance floors and tables, artificial flowers with vine tendrils here and there and, naturally, a few padded white doves._

_Seemingly, this evening had been a dance night and from the age of the people who passed me laughing and babbling cheerfully, it must have been some event for college graduates or something similar. They looked satisfied and in high spirits so it must have been a successful party which meant a lot of cash in the till. Good for Nathan and good for me. _

_It was late, long after midnight, and the rented staff of the Catering Service had just started to clean up in the background when I entered the decorated hall. A few tireless guests were enthusiastically swaying back and forth with the rhythm of the music that was considered to be quite taboo in most classes of human society. What was it called? Rhythm and Blues; the music of the black lower class. Devil's music was simply divine to my ears but to the inhibited white upper class it was considered pure poison and harmful to young people who were easily affected._

_I was really surprised to hear such music upon entering and also to see a black singer standing on the stage playing with a purely 'white' band, for actually this was totally contrary to the white class politics of this land which always set great value upon racial segregation. But when I took a closer look I noticed that the man actually didn't belong with the band. His grey-white clothes proved him to be an employee of the Catering Service while the men playing the instruments wore elegant suits. Their bowties were loosened but still showed that they had been the ones who had entertained the audience up to this moment. Nevertheless, it was definitely brave to let one of the representatives of the Afro-American minority join them on stage. A slight smile appeared on my lips when I looked into the overjoyed faces of the young people I passed. Their faces showed clearly how much they enjoyed this emotional, sweeping kind of music. Young people were far more open to change and to everything new than older people. It had always been that way and it was just a question of time before R&B, Rock 'n Roll and Jazz would change the musical world totally. Of that I was certain and I was really looking forward to that happening._

"_Josef!" I heard a strained, but happy voice very close to me as Nathan headed toward me with his arms wide open. I gave him a friendly smile and graciously let him pat my back, returning his hug in a non-committal way. Nathan was just an acquaintance not a friend and he seemed to have had too much booze today for his lively sparkling eyes were a bit too red and the sharp smell of alcohol rose to my nose with an intensity that nearly brought tears to my eyes. Nathan had a high tolerance for alcohol and he still appeared awake and receptive. Nevertheless, I sensed instantly that something was wrong, for although he was suppressing it, his nervousness couldn't escape my vampire senses. _

"_Would you please leave us alone for a moment?" he addressed an unattractive- looking, lean man who he seemed to have been talking with before my arrival. The man nodded briefly without changing his grumpy expression and walked over toward the other side of the hall where two men were having an argument. For a moment my gaze rested on the two people for one of them looked oddly familiar to me, but Nathan captured my attention presently._

"_I actually tried to call you," he said, looking slightly embarrassed. "But you weren't at home anymore."_

_I raised my brows with a questioning look. "Is there a problem?"_

_He now looked like a little boy who had been caught stealing sweets and then hemmed and hawed a bit. "My advocate found a few inconsistencies in your contract and wanted to look at it once more before I sign it," he finally confessed and there was a tang of fear shown in his round face which was soaked with sweat from the physical efforts of the evening._

"_Inconsistencies?" I repeated with a half-hearted smile. "Nathan, you aren't trying to defraud me of my percentage are you?" Although I was smiling, concerning money I couldn't take a joke. I hadn't become this rich without a reason. No one would get the better of Josef Kostan with impunity. _

"_No, no," my opponent denied straight away and lifted up both hands defensively. "You would get your money in any case. It… it's about something different, but I don't know what exactly. You know that advocate gibberish." He laughed nervously and my smile grew a bit wider._

"_Just be sure that you get this right, Nathan," I said very calmly. "It has never happened that someone was in my debt longer than I wanted him to be. Never."_

_Nathan swallowed hard and then nodded comprehendingly. The fear in his eyes had distinctly increased with my words._

"_Maybe you should consider firing your advocate," I said. "Take this as just a piece of advice."_

"_Yeah… yeah," he replied cowed as nothing more seemed to cross his mind._

_My gaze wandered back over to the other side of the hall and I noticed that the lean guy had been able to smooth down any differences. An envelope changed hands. But it didn't seem to be anything illegal for the new owner immediately checked the contents very carefully and then nodded in agreement. Again I furrowed my brows pensively. Why did that man seem so familiar to me? He was tall, square-shouldered and wore dark suit pants and a white shirt that he had unbuttoned a bit due to the late hour. The bowtie dangled loosely around his neck, not really recognizable anymore, and the suit coat hung over his left arm. So he was one of the musicians._

"_I… I could give you a prepayment," I heard Nathan say next to me as I continued to eye up the stranger in an effort to place him. Something had been different the last time I'd seen him, of that I was sure, which was why I wasn't able to remember properly._

"_Never mind," I addressed Nathan again. "We can simply move that all to tomorrow evening." I took another step closer to him and he audibly held his breath when my hands moved towards him. But I only seized the collar of his light suit and carefully straightened it. "And tomorrow there will definitely be no problems," I went on in a much lower voice. "And also, no advocate who feels the need to intervene, hmm?"_

_I lowered my head slightly and looked up at him with raised brows and an exceedingly tender smile. Nathan nodded a bit too hastily and for so long that his double chin was almost moving in waves, but the terrified expression in his brown button eyes told me he wouldn't try again to hornswoggle me, no matter which greedy advocate backed him. So I briefly patted his cheek and turned around to the stage where the band was once again striking up one of those forbidden but beautifully sweeping pieces of music. _

"_Since when do you allow playing such music in your clubs?" I asked Nathan with real interest this time._

_He stepped up to me, pulled a silk hanky out of the pocket of his suit coat and dabbed the sweat off his forehead in an erratic gesture._

"_Oh, that, I let it pass tonight just this once," he explained hurriedly. "The black one there knows the singer of the band and anyway the party is practically over."_

_He stopped for a moment and listened to the rhythmic sounds, to the not so harmless text of the song and the strong, raucous voice of the more than talented singer. Then he shook his head. "Actually I cannot really condone it."_

_He wasn't the only one thinking that way as the lean, unpleasant man had turned around disgustedly the moment the band struck up the next song and was now marching toward the stage with a crimson face as he started to yell angrily at the singer._

"_Who's that?" I wanted to know, while my sensitive ears picked up that a little drama was looming there. Several times I heard curses which were not appropriate and the music of the band died down instantly._

"_Frederic Jensen," Nathan explained and his tone in doing so spoke volumes. Apparently, I was not the only one who didn't like that man. "He heads one of the biggest catering services here in L.A. and thinks he's the king of the world. I assume from today on we're going to have another unemployed black workman here in town."_

_In fact I soon heard the words "Pack your bags! You're fired!" It was only when the other guy who seemed so familiar to me stepped up to them that the whole thing became really interesting for me. He appeared to be really upset and grabbed Frederic's arm, when he started to leave. He explained, pointing clearly to his own chest, that he had asked Sam, this had to be his black friend's name, to replace him for a moment and that he was the only one to be blamed for it. But Frederic roughly freed himself from his grip and stated aloud that no one of his employees should ever dare again to play such "Nigger shit music" in his presence._

_Sam, who had been on his way out of the hall shaking his head unbelievingly, spun around with these words and made a beeline toward him with his fist raised high in the air which caused Frederic to draw back a few steps, frightened. But there was no need, as the other guy had stepped bravely between them, pressed his hands against Sam's chest and pushed him backwards, talking insistently to him._

"_Calm down, Sam!" he hissed and grabbed the back of his friend's neck with one hand and forced him to avert his gaze from his hated opponent and to look at him. "This will just cause more trouble!"_

_I knew that voice._

"_I'll call the police!" Frederic yelled upset as he backed away. "You all belong behind bars anyway!"_

"_Who 'we'? Huh?!" Sam yelled back and his eyes shot sparks filled with hatred while he fought against the firm grip of his friend. "Who 'we', you gutless pig?!"_

"_Sam! Stop that!" his friend said quietly. "You have to calm down!"_

_Sam now also flashed angry eyes at him. "Calm down? Me?" He poked his friend's chest but his friend was too tall and strong to be gotten rid of that way. "Let go of me, Mick!"_

_Mick? Of course! Finally I recognized him! Coraline's new toy! Why didn't I remember that straight away? Well, considering the many people I deal with every day and the shortness of our first meeting, it was amazing that he had made such a lasting impression on me that I had recognized him at all. But he had a very different aura here. And he somehow also looked different, not so plain and conventional as I remembered him. The slightly too long hair was, owing to this late hour and the certainly strenuous work, unruly and falling in his face and in his posture and all of his movements was a lot of energy and temper._

_Mick looked at his friend searchingly, then nodded and obliged. Sam shook his head angrily, turned around after casting a last disdainful glance at Frederic, and then walked toward the small room where the employees of the restaurant kept their things._

"_Dirty pack, mutinous," I heard Frederic murmur and Mick gave him one of the most venomous looks I had ever seen a human bestow in my life. Um, perhaps he wouldn't be as bad a vampire as I'd thought before._

_Unfortunately, Frederic moved toward Nathan and me, probably to complain about his terrible job and the even more terrible employees and I felt a strong urge to say good bye as fast as possible to avoid getting involved in a conversation with that unpleasant human. But the expression in Mick's eyes as they followed Frederic for another moment kept me from doing this. Something would still happen, of that I was sure because to Coraline's boyfriend the whole thing wasn't over yet. So I pretended to listen to the two men next to me who had started to bitch about the primitive black population of their beautiful land, while my gaze roamed again and again to Mick. He had jumped onto the stage and swapped ideas with his band members, who had watched the whole thing as indignantly as he had. It didn't surprise me when they grabbed their instruments again shortly afterwards, grinning. Mick stepped to the microphone wearing an exceedingly provocative smile on his lips._

"_This is for you, Freddy," he murmured into the microphone and it almost sounded like the belligerent growl of a predator._

_The lively talk of the two men broke off immediately when the first fast beats of the Devil's music the band was striking with full energy echoed through the room. My lips automatically curled into a wide grin. _

_The song was rousing, disrespectful and superbly rude and instantly drew all remaining party guests who hadn't been able to force themselves to leave back to the stage. One was always up for a little scandal in the middle of the night._

_Mick didn't have quite the outstanding soul-voice that his friend Sam did but it was competent and the anger about the things that had happened made him blare the song with much passion and power which totally made up any little deficiencies in his voice. The slight huskiness of his vocal chords which was most likely due to overworking it earlier in the evening gave the song the necessary sex appeal and I shook my head, grinning. What a genius and very efficient act of vengeance. It seemed as if there was quite a rebel hidden inside the young man who had given a rather modest impression at my party, as interesting and inspiring as our little talk had been. But now, with this fire in his blood and the courage to defy a superior opponent in a very provocative manner, I suddenly began to understand why Coraline was so interested in this guy. She had always liked the intractable ones, like me._

_Frederic gasped for air and tensed up so much that I almost hoped he would die of a heart attack at any moment and Nathan suddenly froze. But then life came back into his limbs and he made a few clumsy steps toward the stage. He didn't get very far, because I quickly grabbed his arm. _

"_Let them finish," I said so firmly that Nathan didn't dare to contradict me. "Apparently the audience likes it."_

_The 'audience' now consisted not only of the remaining guests but also of several Afro-American employees, who had stopped their cleaning operations and were looking at the stage with wide eyes. To them it was quite unusual that a white man would support someone in their midst and risk his good reputation in show business by doing so. Things like that happened so very rarely. Some of them quickly went back to their work when they heard Frederic's disgusted wheeze but others began to move to the rhythm of the music, smiling._

_Sam reappeared. He had started to change his clothes when he stepped out of the shadow of the corridor, an unbelieving expression on his face. But his eyes beamed at Mick and he uttered a little laugh when his friend invited him with a distinct nod to join him on stage. _

"_That's really scraping the barrel now!" Frederic called, upset when Sam jumped onto the stage with a smooth motion and joined Mick singing into the microphone along with him._

_My arm shot out when Mr. Unlikable hurried towards the stage. I caught his collar and pulled him back with such force that he stumbled and fell backwards into several chairs which collapsed loudly to the floor with him on top of them._

"_Aren't you well?" I asked innocently and again Frederic gasped for air like a fish out of water. "Maybe you had better go home and sleep it off."_

"_How dare you?!" Frederic snapped and struggled to get back to his feet again for somehow his legs had gotten caught in the chairs._

"_No, Freddy," Nathan interfered quickly and gave his friend a hand. "Just do what Mr. Kostan is telling you to do, please."_

_Confusion was clearly showing in Frederic's eyes. He hadn't missed Nathan's tense tone and was smart enough to know that his friend's fear wasn't unfounded. _

"_Your guys will understand," Nathan added. "And I can make sure that they carry on with their work. Just… just go home."_

_Frederic gave me a searching glance, but I just smiled at him wearing my friendly mask. For a moment he considered whether he should say something but then he turned wordlessly and disappeared toward the exit._

_My smile became a satisfied grin and I turned to the stage again where Mick and his friend had happily wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders and together belted out the last lines of the song into the microphone. It was primarily the girls who were moving to the rhythm of the music, giving the two men on the stage adoring glances. I inhaled satisfied, crossed my arms behind my back and bobbed a bit up and down on my toes._

"_This Sam-guy certainly will get a golden handshake from someone, which will help him to keep his head above water for a few months, won't he?" I mentioned casually, when Nathan stepped up to me again. He looked a bit confused for a moment but then he seemed to understand and nodded rapidly._

"_Of… of course," he stammered and looked over to the stage clearly more tense than I was. The last note had just died away and to Nathan's visible relief the Band finally started to bag their instruments. Lately I'd noticed that Mick's gaze roamed to me again and again while he was talking with his friend. I didn't know exactly when he had seen me but apparently he remembered me as well, for the next moment he climbed agilely off the stage and headed toward me. _

"_Hey," he greeted me with an exceedingly charming smile. "I would have never thought that this is Josef Kostan's style." He made a widespread gesture through the room which was almost drowning in useless baubles. I was still so surprised that he even remembered my name that it left me unable to answer promptly._

"_You know each other?" Nathan asked, confused._

"_Oh, but of course," I said as seriously as possible. "That's my favorite band at the moment… and we're old friends." With that the band's reputation would be saved for now, despite their little 'lapse' tonight._

_Nathan's eyes widened a bit with surprise and he nodded understandingly. "I wouldn't have thought that."_

"_Oh, well, you never know," I replied smirking, but Nathan had begun searching for a reason to escape me. He finally found it when one of his poor employees had at that particular moment rammed an 'ancient' papier-mâché column with one of the chairs as he was about to put it onto a table. It fell to the floor with a loud bang. _

"_Would you excuse me for a moment?" Nathan asked with ill-concealed relief and hurried away when I nodded. I was sure I wouldn't see him again very soon._

"_You don't even know the name of the band, do you?" I heard Mick ask casually as we were watching the small, plump man hectically bossing the poor employees about._

"_Is it important?" I asked without looking at him._

"_No," he responded nonchalantly and now I turned to him, a smirk on my lips. He was taller than I had remembered him, even a bit taller than me and astoundingly attractive with his dark hair falling into his face and his lively sparkling blue eyes. I hadn't noticed this particularly the last time we'd met. At Coraline's side every other person just seemed to fade._

"_Actually, I just wanted to thank you," he said seriously._

"_What for?" I asked, really surprised._

_He furrowed his brows and pensively studied my face for a moment to find out if I was serious about my question. "For your support," he explained finally and pointed at the chaos of the chairs very close to us that Freddy's 'free fall' had caused._

"_Oh, that. It's been a pleasure," I replied and really meant it._

_One corner of Mick's mouth lifted up in a crooked half smile._

"_I can imagine that," he said. "It was a total pleasure for me as well."_

"_Tcha," I uttered with a small sigh, "if only all needs could be satisfied that easily."_

_He laughed quietly and reminded me of the pleasant, exhilarating direction our first meeting had gone over the course of the evening, until Coraline's jealously had messed up the works. _

"_But seriously," he went on. "I think if you hadn't been here today this all could have ended up badly for all of us. I know Nathan's bouncers. They can be quite rough." _

"_Oh, well," I said and raised a brow questioningly. "Wasn't there a Plan B?"_

_Mick smiled but he lowered his head and skimmed his fingers over his lips a bit sheepishly. "That's the one thing I always forget in the heat of the moment," he admitted. "It's one of my many weaknesses. But usually I have more luck than judgment and get away with just a black eye."_

_Sam headed to us and he, too, gave me a thankful smile. "Hey, man, this was so marvelous!" he said full of respect and gave Mick a questioning glance._

"_Oh, yes." Mick shook his head at his own rudeness. "Sam, this is Josef Kostan, a friend of Coraline's. Josef, this is Samuel Cook, one of the most outstanding singers on this planet."_

_Sam grimaced and poked Mick in the ribs. But then he reached out his hand to me and I took it._

"_He massively exaggerates," he enlightened me quickly but Mick shook his head vehemently._

"_Sam is the new lead singer of the Soul Stirrers," he told me, completely ignoring his friend's protests and I nodded, impressed. I had indeed heard of them and they made really great music._

"_Why are you working here then, as a temporary worker?" I asked curiously. _

"_It doesn't pay that much and besides we're taking a break at the moment," he explained. "And you can't live on music and air alone. " He shrugged. "I'll find something new. I'm not licked so easily."_

"_Hey, are you coming," a voice called from the corridor leading to the back exit and I noticed that the rest of the band members were on their way toward the exit._

_Sam nodded to them and then turned to me._

"_The guys along with Mick and I are going to visit our favorite club to chill a bit. Would you like to join us?" He looked at me questioningly and without thinking about it or really wanting to I nodded finally. The thought of spending a bit more time with Mick tempted me immensely which was a real surprise to me. _

"_But, you know you're getting in league with the devil, don't you?" Mick asked me with a broad grin._

"_This wouldn't be my first time," I replied cheerfully and Mick uttered that laugh again. I found that it increased my attraction to him. It was weird, but without Coraline or any other representatives of our society near us, we apparently felt very comfortable in each other's proximity. And for the first time in a long while I felt the need to really get to know someone else. _

* * *

Mick had been one of the few people in my life who had again and again surprised and fascinated me right from the start. He always had been a special person; a person with two sides which complemented each other wonderfully at times but at other times they were at cross purposes with each other. He was sensitive, sympathetic and caring on the one hand; strong, combative, rebellious and passionate on the other. Furthermore, he was unbearably pigheaded, had a high intellect and a quickly boiling, sometimes barely controlled temper that had gotten him into trouble from time to time. But he was a born fighter, a man that stood his ground no matter what cruelty fate came up with for him and that was exactly what I admired in him, because it was an attribute I owned myself, a similarity we both had great regard for. No matter how bad we might feel at times, we knew the other one would recover and would soon be his old self again. We would be there for each other one and neither of us had to be afraid he would lose his best friend to the dark side of life forever. But now, for the first time in our 58 years of friendship, doubts were rising up inside me, doubts that Mick could really recover enough from the traumatic experiences of the last year that he would find his way back to his old self. Doubts, I tried to fight back with all my might.

Four days had passed since I had sent Beth away but it seemed much longer to me. Mick had physically recovered quite well with Peterson's professional help. He still struggled to cope with his circulation, the aftereffects of his serious injuries and the side effects of his slowly decreasing transformations into a vampire. But, in the meantime, he was also able to walk on his own in his human form and to talk with us.

That he was _able_ to do it didn't mean he _did_ do it or that it was really pleasant _when_ he did. Mostly his conversations consisted of short confirmations and negations to questions asked, especially in the first few days when his circulation had really bothered him. Also, speaking had strained him greatly but it had gotten much better. Nevertheless, he felt the need to speak longer sentences when something didn't suit him or when he got angry and getting angry was something he was very good at. He would fume at the smallest things, for example, when he dropped something from his hand or when he wasn't able to grab something due to the tremors that affected him from time to time. Loud noises, silly questions and hectic movements were things that got on his tightly wound nerves and that was one of the reasons why I always sent Logan and his annoying friend into the cellar the moment Mick came voluntarily out of his room. Even though they knew each other very well and had been friendly before, at the moment it was the best that they avoided each other. Well, at the moment it was probably best if _everyone_ avoided Mick. And actually all people in the house did, except for Peterson and me. The former for he was Mick's attending physician and me as I was Mick's best friend and felt responsible for changing him back into a normal person.

But it was easier said than done because besides his occasional outbursts of fury, Mick also struggled with other moods I couldn't handle very well and barely knew how to react to. States of anxiety for example, or phases of deepest inner despair that I often could only sense. Outwardly he seemed to be calm and withdrawn but inwardly he suffered terribly.

I didn't have to be a psychologist to realize that all these reactions were produced by the trauma he had gone through. I also realized that his open aggressiveness was much healthier for him than the things he dealt with inside himself, completely on his own. But it was his inside that we needed to deal with so Mick's psyche could make progress in order to deal with the conditions of the Eldest vampire. So I consciously tried to provoke Mick every time he shrank into himself and tried to block out the world around him. Because of that our friendship was not in good shape at the moment.

Also this morning I prepared myself for a new long and exhausting day of the 'Setting-Mick-onto-his-feet-again' project. I was still tired from the previous night when Mick, the vampire, had again caused us much trouble and had dug his teeth into August's arm in the heat of the moment. Just then his human twin entered the living room, slightly swaying, and staggered towards the kitchen unit not really noticing me. He usually was very thirsty upon rising and it took a while until he had appeased his thirst. Fortunately he was at least able to assimilate water and liquid food now.

For a long moment I watched him from my seat on the sofa, eyeing him closely to get an idea of how he was physically today. His circulation still wasn't where it should be and made his movements look a bit uncoordinated and erratic at times, but his physical control was back again and his muscles obeyed his will.

I stood up from the armchair where I had just read a very uninteresting book and strolled towards him asking myself what kind of mood my friend was in today. He had put on one of the few pairs of jeans we had found in Seth's bag and had thrown on one of the least offensive of the checked shirts. He hadn't buttoned it up and the shaking of the hand holding the glass of water while he was drinking told me the reason why. With such a tremor it was practically impossible to even attempt to button a shirt.

I stepped to the fridge, opened it and took a bag of blood. I saw from the corner of my eye that Mick had put the glass on the shelf and turned to me.

"So, you slept well?" I asked and turned to him as well with a friendly smile. Like always, Mick looked terribly wasted with dark shadows beneath his eyes and sunken cheeks. But he wasn't so pale anymore and his gaze was aware and focused like it hadn't been for a long time. Even though I wasn't sure which struggle was awaiting us both today, it felt unbelievably good to talk to him at eye level again, to sense that he was recovering bit by bit every day. So I enjoyed every second at his side, anyway as long as he didn't go totally crazy.

Mick shrank from my gaze and looked into the living room as if there was something exciting to discover there. I wasn't really surprised that he simply passed over my question

"Whom did I bite this time?" he asked with an almost empty expression and surprised me a bit with that sudden question.

I shrugged. "No one." This was really one of the worst performances of my life.

Now Mick looked at me and slight anger was sparkling in his eyes. "It was the doctor, wasn't it?" he asked directly. "This August."

"You can remember that?" I asked really surprised and Mick's gaze roamed back to the wall of the living room that seemed to have suddenly become very attractive to him.

"Partly," was the short answer and I frowned, examining his tense face. This was a new realization because we all had assumed that Mick had complete black-outs when he changed into a vampire. At least it had always seemed that way.

"All along?" I had to ask and his nod surprised me again. "I thought you didn't know what you were doing."

"I really don't know," he replied harshly, turned to me again and then inhaled deeply. "I…" He faltered, searched for proper words. "In some way I _do_ know what I'm doing, but I… I cannot control it… not really anyhow… It's like I'm watching myself doing things I would usually never do." He skimmed one hand over his once again sweaty forehead and shook his head. "I… I just can't explain it. But you mustn't think that this is _me_… that I _want_ to do those things."

I nodded comprehendingly and took a step toward him. "We know that, Mick," I added explaining. "Everyone here knows it."

He leaned against the sink behind him and closed his eyes for a moment. His human strength was still pretty limited and was generally used up very quickly, especially when something else was upsetting him as well.

"At… at the beginning I had a hard time making out if I was dreaming or if I was awake," he added resignedly and his lids rose again. "It's quite disturbing to find out afterwards that you've done certain things for real." He tried to smile but failed miserably.

I asked myself if he was thinking of the things that had happened between him and Beth. I wasn't really sure if he knew why she wasn't here any longer. But why else would he have been able to adjust to it so easily without asking why even once?

"Then you also know that Lance has been here?" I asked to distract him from the topic that had to be the most painful one for him at the moment.

The rueful expression disappeared from his eyes abruptly and cleared the way for an expression of distaste. "Did I really… bite him?"

"Oh, yes," I replied smirking, inwardly enjoying the fact that we were finally moving into our first long talk. "You almost finished him off."

Mick furrowed his brows skeptically. "Vampires cannot die through simply draining them."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," I responded. "Anyway no one else had tried it before you."

Mick contorted his face disgustedly and I had to laugh. "Besides, Peterson also showed me a totally new point of view on the vampire existence with his expert knowledge about vampires."

"One you believe completely?" Mick asked unbelievingly

"Of course not," I smiled. "But it is indeed very interesting."

"I see," he said and I hoped to see a smirk on his lips, but he wasn't ready to do me this favor yet. Instead, he frowned again and the serious expression in his eyes displeased me.

"Why did Lance come here?" he asked much too calmly.

"He wanted to pick up our friend Peterson," I explained willingly. Although I knew I was letting myself in for a topic that could soon become very unpleasant to me, Mick had the right to know everything.

"On whose instructions?" the next question shot out of him instantly. "Since when do vampires cooperate with the _Legion_?"

So, his quick wit had come around as well which was actually a positive thing.

"I don't think they do," I replied. "They're just afraid."

"Lance is afraid?" Mick raised his brows questioningly but shook his head without waiting for my answer. "No," he added firmly, "there's something else behind this."

"Yes, maybe," I admitted and noticed that I was still holding the bag of blood in my hand. I mentally shook my head and opened the door of the kitchen cabinet above me to grab a glass.

"_Maybe_ means what?" Mick asked a bit peevishly. "That it doesn't matter to you? That you've something better to do? Or simply that you don't want to talk with me about this?"

"I think from this distance and due to our slightly marginal situation here, we just don't have enough information at the moment to find out what Lance and his colleagues are plotting," I explained in a friendly manner. "That's all I meant."

Mick crossed his arms across his chest and looked at me with an expression that told me clearly that he had just started asking unpleasant questions and wouldn't stop asking very soon.

'Take it easy, Josef,' I said to myself. 'Actually it's quite wonderful that he feels strong enough now to tangle with you.'

"How long have you actually known about the _Legion_?" he asked bluntly and with a great deal of anger in his voice.

I inhaled as deeply and calmly as possible and poured some blood in my glass. Mick was cutting to the chase awfully fast.

"A few hundred years," I admitted reluctantly. "I think since the first time I was hunted by them and had been forced to work with a few other vampires to escape them."

"And you didn't bother to tell me about them at any time? Possibly to warn me?" There was this lively irritability sparkling in his eyes that had always warned me when he was on the verge of throwing a tantrum. As I thought about it, I decided he was absolutely right to be angry with me and I knew that he might explode at any minute. Maybe my knowledge about the _Legion_ could have saved him from falling into their trap. And very likely it did him a lot of good to blow off steam once in a while.

"Maybe I would…" he started but broke off instantly. He looked at the ground quickly and then shook his head. "Never mind," he just murmured and his rage disappeared.

This, too, I had often observed in the last four days. Every topic that came close to touching on his year in the laboratory was instantly broken off by Mick and was kept under wraps. Mick hadn't wasted any words talking about the past year. He wouldn't talk about how he had been or what he had gone through. He would say how he was feeling physically, would talk about his vampire side and on very rare occasion also about his emotions but he never talked about the past year. Although this was terribly important for him as it was eating him up inside.

Steps echoed from the corridor and Mick lifted his head and looked past me with that odd expression in his eyes. It had almost become something like a preannouncement to me that a certain person was coming.

"You're up still?" I heard Peterson ask before I had turned to him. The professor looked just as tired out as Mick, with dark rings beneath his eyes, unruly hair and a wrinkled shirt. The Seth-style clothing suited him very well and khaki seemed somehow to be his color. I, however, was not comfortable with the jeans I was wearing. Not that I never wore jeans. They had style if combined with the proper shirt, but not with this simple checked fabric.

"Is the new medication at least helping you to sleep a bit?" Peterson asked and approached Mick hurriedly. I distinctly noticed my friend tense up beside me, but he didn't move or even flinch backwards as he had done so often in the past few days whenever Peterson had been away for a period of time and then returned. It had to be difficult for Mick to be treated by the doctor who had also been in the laboratory always at his side. Even though he had taken care of Mick and protected him, the sight of Peterson certainly would bring all the pictures and feelings he so urgently wanted to push away back into Mick's mind.

"A bit," he answered and I clearly felt that even that was a lie. We had started to reduce his medications a lot which on the one hand would make it possible to bring him back to a normal life, but on the other hand would lead to him being more exposed to his ambivalent feelings, his terrible memories and his nightmares. Accordingly, only a little sleep was possible for him at the moment. This also weakened his body which had a great deal of catching up to do with regards to rest and sleep.

Peterson nodded hesitantly and then went to the fridge to gather up the things he needed to prepare one of those icky nutrient drinks which Mick had to drink every morning.

"Is there any point in telling you that I'm actually not hungry?" Mick asked his doctor, tiredly. This was plainly and simply not true for my sensitive vampire ears distinguished that his stomach gave off a low snarl just thinking of food. I hadn't totally made up my mind what his attitude of refusal concerning the intake of food was about. He had shown this behavior for quite a while now, but it wasn't normal, of that I was sure.

"No," Peterson said honestly and plunged the cable of the mixer into the socket with a flourish. He, too, seemed to be vexed by Mick's question. "You have to ingest something," he explained a bit softer while he put yoghurt, milk and the nutrient compound into the mixer. "Your body needs it to recover. And maybe we could slowly start to switch over to solid food."

Mick furrowed his brows almost defiantly. "What for?" he asked irritated. "I can't taste anything anyway."

That was news to me but not to Peterson who uttered a small sigh. "You have to be more patient," he said. "It will come. Your body first has to get used to the fact that it now has to supply the wants of two totally different creatures." The professor put a hand on his shoulder consolingly. "It'll be all right. You'll see."

"Of course," Mick grumbled ungraciously and to my delight pushed Peterson's hand aside.

The doctor really looked dejected when he turned back to his work again. I, however, gloated. Admittedly it was silly, but deep inside my selfish interior it peeved me that they had bonded with each other so closely over the long time they had been together and that I hadn't been able to pierce through this weird relationship up to now. I could understand why Mick in his distress had needed a caregiver to keep himself from going completely out of his mind, but what had caused Peterson to care for and protect Mick so intensely was a complete mystery to me. After all there had been a dozen other vampires in the laboratories.

Of course I was jealous. Even if I always claimed loudly that I wasn't the jealous type it was actually a defiant lie. I just didn't want to show it to anyone for I was afraid I would lose a part of my independence and self-assurance in public if I did. But I _was_ jealous most of all with regard to Mick. In the beginning I had also competed with Beth and now Peterson had to suffer from my attacks. But he had only himself to blame.

"And how are you otherwise?" Peterson asked Mick, back in the role of doctor.

"Let me think," Mick said, lifting his gaze to the ceiling. "My head is aching, when I walk my legs are like lead, I'm not able to walk straight because my head is spinning and a very unpleasant whistling noise is echoing in my ears after I've taken only a few steps. My stomach hurts, my lungs aren't working properly and I constantly feel as if I'm dying of thirst." He looked at the professor extremely provocatively. "Yes, I would say it's going rapidly uphill." A short stilted smile appeared on his lips while Peterson was staring at him open-mouthed. He was feeling the same as me. We weren't used to Mick being so talkative and took _that_ as sign of a huge leap forward.

"Can you at last brew up that unsavory drink so that I can gulp it down and go back into my room?" Mick added impatiently for Peterson was still not reacting. The professor blinked a few times, then turned quickly around and started the mixer. The loud roaring of the machine was extremely unpleasant for Mick's and my sensitive ears and we grimaced almost at the same time and turned away. Peterson gave us an apologetic smile and shrugged his shoulders helplessly. But the torture was over very quickly and Mick almost ripped the now full glass out of Peterson's hand.

I frowned confused when he pushed past me and hurried to his room still staggering a bit. His heartbeat had doubled all of a sudden and I was hyperaware of it.

"Panic attack?" I addressed Peterson with a concerned expression the moment Mick was out of earshot.

"Definite possibility," the professor considered and bit his bottom lip but didn't give the impression that he would want to follow Mick immediately. Such fits had almost become routine for us and it was better to stay calm at first and to give Mick the chance to cope with it by himself.

"But, why?" I really didn't understand it as it seemed that everything had been all right.

"I'm not really sure why," Peterson admitted. "It could be very small stimuli that we don't notice but it might call up very terrible memories in his mind. Maybe it's the noise of the machine? But I don't know what he's associating with it as I can't remember any loud machines in the lab."

If I was honest, I didn't really want to know. I felt like Mick. I preferred to block out what had happened to him in the labs and not to think about it further. It hurt so much and at the same time made me so angry that I had to worry about being a danger to the people who were around me at the moment. I quickly sipped at my glass of blood, for somehow it always had a calming affect on me.

"But I think this is just the beginning," the professor tried to warn me cautiously, trying not to look at my glass too closely. "The better Mick gets physically the more room his psyche will have to digest the terrible things he has experienced. In the next few days we'll need a lot of strength to stabilize him."

I only nodded. What could I say to that? I was fully aware that we both had to bear the brunt of this and the pressure Lance had put on us didn't make the whole thing easier.

To my surprise, Peterson stepped a bit closer to me and looked at me conspiratorially. "It's extremely important that he opens up, that he talks about everything that's happening inside him and also about the things he had to go through. Otherwise it'll drain him. And if _we_'re not able to do it…"

He looked at me urgently and I knew full well what he was talking about. Of course, the idea of bringing Beth back if we failed had come to my mind as well, more often than he might assume. Above all, I had the feeling that she with her fizzy, buoyant nature and her enormous strength would indeed be able to help Mick along. Besides, the fact was that he sometimes seemed to need her like the air that he breathed. But it was impossible for me to admit this in front of Peterson. After all it had been _me_ who had decided to send Beth away from here.

"We'll see," I replied evasively and set my glass onto the shelf next to the sink. It was a real shame about the blood for I had only sipped a bit on it but the urge to have a look at what Mick was up to had grown so much in the last few minutes that I simply_ had_ to give in to it.

Peterson seemed to know what I was up to because he didn't say anything else and didn't try to stop me either. He couldn't be close to Mick when he was by himself and he also could no longer sleep in his room. That had simply become much too dangerous.

I didn't quite know what awaited me when I approached Mick's room but I had a vague idea. Outbursts of anger looked different than this.

The door to Mick's room was open as it always was since he had regained consciousness again. He didn't like it when he was imprisoned in any way and it was no wonder after his experiences.

Mick stood in front of the opened window of his room, propped up clumsily on the frame and sucking the warm air of the day deeply and irregularly into his lungs. This I had often observed as well when he hit the panic button. Peterson had assured me that Mick's lung although scarred and a bit battered was fully functional again. He assumed that Mick's breathing trouble was connected to his emotional state but I wasn't as sure about it. I was neither a doctor nor a psychologist but a concerned friend who could barely stand to see someone he dearly loved suffering this much.

I knew he noticed me as I entered the room but he wasn't able to turn around and just stared out of the window and gasped for air. I had to be careful. If his state got worse it was possible that he could change into a vampire again.

My gaze saw the glass with the nutrient mix that he had naturally not even touched but had set on the dresser with such force that some of the contents had spilled onto the old wood.

"I guessed that you wouldn't drink that," I noted as casually as possible. To react worriedly would probably just fuel his fears. It would be much better to get him out of his fear cycle somehow.

Mick reacted by casting a quick glance over his shoulder and that calmed me down a bit for when the fits were really bad he wasn't responsive.

"Honestly, it doesn't look that bad," I went on. That was a lie for the drink was a quite unpleasant diarrhea brown, but who cared?

Mick made a disapproving sound and in the glass of the window beside him I could see him close his eyes while intensely trying to get himself under control again.

"Sometimes you're really…a miserable liar," he said painstakingly.

I stepped closer to him. Close enough that I could feel his tension and fear almost physically. "But I've worked so hard to do that," I replied with pretend hurt in my voice and finally Mick succeeded in turning to me.

"I… I try as well," he said much more quietly and the desperate expression in his eyes caused a painful spasm in my chest.

"I know," I said softly and grabbed both his upper arms to give him more physical stability.

Mick dropped his gaze for a moment but then lifted his head which shook slightly. "That's… That's not me anymore," he said resignedly. "I… I'm such a… such a…" He closed his eyes tiredly.

"… human?" I helped him with a soft smile although I was certain he had wanted to say something snider, something like 'wreck'.

"Am I?" he asked instead and almost sounded as if he already knew the answer to that question. Well, he was at an absolute low-point again but the harried panic in his eyes had disappeared and his breathing was clearly calm. Sometimes I really am a genius!

"Yes," I said as firmly as possible.

Mick looked down at himself and then uttered a sad laugh. "I… I'm even not able to button a shirt on my own."

"If I remember rightly it's not the first time in your life," I responded casually and started to button up his shirt quite naturally. Mick was so occupied with furrowing his brows in confusion that he let me do as I liked.

"I remember 25, September, 1951," I smiled at him. "It was the culmination of a really amusing evening and you were so tanked that you couldn't even close your jacket."

Mick seemed indeed to remember that day because for the first time since we had freed him from the hands of the _Legion_ a short smile slid over his face. "But it didn't have buttons," he objected and I nodded grinning and closed the last button of his shirt.

"It was a zipper and you couldn't handle it."

"Humans just can't tolerate that much alcohol," he said and looked at me absent mindedly. "It happened to me quite often during that time."

"Nevertheless you were the same person afterward," I tried to get it through his head.

"It's not the same," he said, stubborn as ever.

"But similar," I countered.

"It didn't last."

"Nor will this."

Mick looked down to the ground again. I felt how desperately he wanted to believe me but it was so difficult for him to free his mind from his worries and fears. "Are you sure?" he asked hesitantly and I nodded my assent.

"Totally sure," I said with utter conviction and briefly patted his stubbled cheek causing him to look at me again. "And never again tell me that you're not here anymore. I can clearly see and feel you, Mick. And I'm not the only one."

Mick knew instantly of whom I was speaking. There was a short stab of pain and insecurity in his blue eyes. He quarreled with himself but finally he vocalized the question which had to have weighed heavily on his soul for a while now. "Did… did she just leave or did you send her away?"

"Send her away?" I repeated with raised brows. "I had to detach her with a crowbar from your bed frame!" That was admittedly a bit overstated but at least it had felt like that to me. Even though Mick tried to hide it, it appeared as if my reply took a ten-ton weight off his mind. Beth hadn't fled in fear of him. She hadn't even wanted to go!

He took a deep breath and then nodded a few times.

"That… that was right," he said bravely and made himself smile again. "That was the right decision. She… she shouldn't be close to me."

"Not at the moment," I agreed quietly, but he didn't really listen to me. His thoughts formed a new question.

"Is she… well?"

"Simone is keeping her company and she's staying at a quite expensive hotel," I willingly provided the information. Just the thought of Beth seemed to give him more strength. His face looked instantly much more relaxed and his posture more loose.

"But the last time we spoke on the phone she was still a bit mad at me," I added.

Mick was again deep in thought. "Do you think Simone is able to keep her under control?" he asked doubtfully. "She doesn't like to sit around doing nothing and she can sometimes come up with stupid ideas."

Even though I tried not to, I just had to smirk. Beth and Mick complemented each other perfectly concerning their worries about each other, which was perhaps due to the fact that they knew each other much too well and knew that their worries were justified.

"You know what?" I said finally as I took a large step towards the dresser, grabbed Mick's 'tasty' drink and handed it to him. "You empty this glass and then we can both think about how we can help Simone to keep our willing-to-take-risks-friend under better control. What do you think?"

Mick looked disgustedly at the drink, but finally took it from my hand. "Word," he said and brought the glass bravely to his lips.

Inwardly I patted myself on the back. What a genius move! But the question now was what moves were my two dear teammates going to attempt to do next? Even though I knew them both quite well they were still able to surprise me at any moment. What had I once confessed to Mick in a moment of weakness? With him it was never boring. Unfortunately, I suspected that the same was true of Beth.


	23. A stupid idea

_*__Hello again my dear readers! You made me so happy with your many reviews (I thank you all so, so much!) that I tried to get the new chapter ready as quickly as possible. And here it is! So great to hear you love my story that much. And I'll try to go on with that speed and hope to post the next chapter at Sunday again. It has been already sent to a beta reader. So I'm very optimistic about that. Best wishes, Jenna*_

_P.S. Hugs and kisses to Jo again, my dear beta!  
_

_lynnrxgal: I don't know how I do this exactly. But I try to slip into the characters, try to think like them and somehow it seems to work. :0) _

_loveyoujar: Great to have found a new fan in you. You don't need to worry that I'll not finish the story. That won't happen for 'Newborn' is a completed story that just needs to be translated into English. And I think I'll also finish the sequel I'm writing at the moment for I'm still too much addicted to the Moonlight-Universe._

* * *

**A****stupid idea**

* * *

"_Into the most stupid of ideas you slide the easiest." _

_(Adolf Reitz)_

* * *

It was really a very stupid idea, Beth was fully aware of that. Just as she knew she would do it anyhow. Her curiosity and her need to finally do something was simply too big a temptation to withstand. The temptation was lying in the form of an innocent cell phone in front of her on a table. The shape of a mad plan was also already haunting her mind fuelled by the little handwritten note in Simone's planner and was responsible for her inner conflict.

'Call Talbot. Urgently!' the young advocate had written down briefly and next to it, as if this thought had just occurred to her: "Does he know more than he's admitting?"

The alarm bells had started ringing in Beth's head and suddenly she had remembered that her former employer was also on top of_ her_ list of the people she urgently needed to meet. Of course, she was aware it wasn't decent to pry into Simone's planner. But why had she left it flipped open on the small glass table in their living room? It had been too alluring after all the time she had spent in deadly boredom, deep longing and even deeper sorrow in this posh but not too large hotel suite.

Simone had been at her side all day, had been a good friend and big source of support. From time to time but only when she had gone shopping had she left the suite. Beth hadn't noticed how much the whole experience around Mick had worn her out until Simone had brought her here and had put her arms around Beth without exchanging many words. The tears had flooded Beth's eyes so quickly that she hadn't had a chance to prevent her breakdown. But it had done her good to be able to let herself go and to let out all her grief, all the fears and sorrows that had tortured her for such a long time. It had been necessary, like a deluge after a long period of drought that washed away the dirt and dust of the former time to make room for new ideas and thoughts and most of all for new strength. Beth had slept straight through for almost one whole day and night. She had gotten up briefly just to eat and had slumped tiredly back to the bed again afterwards. But by the second day her strength and her energy had returned in large part. Although Simone had made every effort to distract her, Beth's thoughts had quickly returned to the one person she was longing for and also worried about the most: Mick.

She asked herself over and over again how he was, if he was making progresses, if the others cared for him well enough and…if he was missing her. And although she knew full well how much Josef loved him and how much he wanted Mick to recover, she didn't like the thought that Mick had to get along without her support for almost a week. Maybe it was a bit arrogant on her part but she had the feeling that she viewed him in a much different light than the others did, that she understood him better. She was part of him and because of that she actually_ had_ to be at his side so that no one made him out to be a monster, because he wasn't.

The urge to call Josef had grown from day to day and from hour to hour, but her friend had destroyed his old cell phone long ago and now changed phones daily to prevent anyone from locating him and the others. That certainly didn't mean she had no contact with Josef. Once a day he called from an unidentified number, but for Beth it was just a drop in the bucket. It was so unbelievably hard to wheedle any information out of him that most times Beth was in quite a bad mood when she ended the call. More than 'Under the circumstances Mick is well,_ everyone_ is doing well but it's still too dangerous to come back' she couldn't get out of Josef. The choice of words varied a bit and sometimes he added a line dripping with irony or a naughty remark, but other than that it actually was always the same.

Because Beth was in L.A. Simone did some of her work at the hotel, where they were booked under different names, and after a while Beth had offered to help her just to have something else to think about. After a short moment of hesitation Simone had agreed and Beth had been deeply grateful for that. The work was a bit dreary, but it helped to kill time and was a distraction.

But today Simone had gotten an important call and had been forced to leave Beth alone for a few hours.

"I know it might be difficult for you after spending four days in these rooms," she had said and looked at Beth urgently, "but please don't leave the hotel, OK?"

Beth had nodded with understanding and had explained that today there would be a few interesting films on TV that she absolutely wanted to watch. Simone had smiled hopefully and then had disappeared. Beth hadn't lied. She had even taken the opened giant-sized pack of _Ben & Jerry's Half Baked_ from the freezer and had slouched on the expensive sofa in front of the TV, wrapped in a cuddly blanket. But after about half an hour her glance had fallen upon Simone's planner and it had signaled an end to her good intentions and understanding behavior.

Beth threw a last undecided glance at the cell phone then her hand shot forward and grabbed it tightly as if she was afraid it would jump from the table at the last second and run away. Her fingers nearly flew over the keys and her heart started to beat faster even before the first ring resounded. She heard another ring, and then a deep and familiar voice answered with a jolly "Yes!"

"Steve?" Beth asked. "It's Beth."

Stunned silence followed her words. "My goodness, it's an eternity since I last heard of you," Steve noted shortly with a small laugh. "The last thing I heard was that you'd quit BuzzWire and accepted a position with the DA's office."

"Uh-huh," Beth interrupted him impatiently. "I… I need your help, Steve."

"You need a camera operator?" was the surprised reaction.

"No, more a friend who can do me a little favor," she responded.

"Oh, oh!"

Beth stumbled. "What does _that_ mean?"

"Well, that the '_little_ favors' of Beth Turner don't correspond with the '_little_ favors' of my imagination." Steve sounded more amused than vexed and he was a nice guy, so she still had a chance.

"This time it's really a little one, I promise!" she said quickly. "And I'll take you to dinner some day."

"A date-dinner or an old-colleagues-dinner?" he asked mischievously.

"Steve, please!" she urged and again she could hear him laugh.

"Fair enough. I won't torment you any longer," he surrendered amused. "What is it about?"

"About a call," she explained. "I need you to call Ben Talbot and make an appointment with him at…" She quickly glanced at her wristwatch. It was a quarter past three. "Four thirty at the _Mansfield_."

"But I'm not going to go there, right?" Steve concluded.

"Exactly, I will," she said. "But it's extraordinarily important that he doesn't know that."

"Wow! It's almost like working with James Bond," he teased her. "And what reason shall I give him?"

Beth thought for a moment. She had only just seen Ben's name in a newspaper. Some actor was charged by the DA's office and Talbot had taken over the case. "Tell him you have delicate information about Richard Hiller. He'll definitely come then."

"Okay," Steve replied unruffled. "Then I'll call back to tell you if it worked."

"Yeah, thanks. I'm really in your debt."

A click was heard from the phone and the connection was interrupted. Beth took a deep breath and put the phone onto the coffee table next to Simone's planner.

'Stupid idea! Really, really stupid idea!' it hammered again in her head. But she just stood up and went into her bedroom to change, pushing every reasonable thought out of her mind.

* * *

Beth had been as careful as it was possible. She had chosen a location that was quite busy, a café in the middle of the city center, in a quarter she knew very well. She had taken her pepper spray, the cell phone and extra money and had gone into a big mall to buy a dark-haired wig and sunglasses. In this masquerade she looked like a film star who was trying to fool any paparazzi who might be following her but she doubted she would be recognized by any people who weren't close enough to her. Nevertheless she was nervous. Her toes tapped restlessly under the round table on the sunny terrace of the café and again and again she looked around as casually as possible, not only because she was looking for Talbot but also because she wanted to be sure that no one else was watching or had followed her. Up to this point she hadn't noticed any suspicious persons. How could she? No one knew she was back in the city again.

Beth's stomach turned a little somersault when Talbot appeared on the terrace, tall, sartorially dressed and illegally good looking. Even though Beth had been completely in love with Mick when she had first met Ben and his arrogance and insolence had upset her terribly, she had noticed immediately that the new best man in the DA's office was one of the few people who could be labeled as classically beautiful. With his dark complexion, his almost black eyes, his full lips and his clear-cut face he caught the eye of almost every woman, although he lacked the mystical aura and the natural sex appeal of a Mick St. John. But he wasn't warm inside and didn't have a warm heart which radiated outward. Once Beth had told Mick that she didn't have a romantic interest in Ben Talbot. She hadn't lied and she was also sure that this would never change. The turbulence in her stomach was related to the fact that she knew that with this meeting she was involving herself in a dangerous game, although she also had high hopes of getting some information from him which could be profoundly important to her and her friends.

In the meantime, Talbot had stopped in the middle of the terrace, undecided, and pensively furrowed his harmonious and perfectly curved dark brows while he was eying up the people at the many tables hoping his informant would reveal himself. Beth obliged by simply raising a hand and waving at him with a friendly smile. Talbot frowned, a bit confused but then approached her hesitantly.

"Do _we_ have an appointment?" he asked amazed when he was near enough to hear her without any problem. Almost at the same moment he stopped his motion and bafflement shown in his dark brown eyes. "Beth?" he said barely audibly and a mix of fright and anger chased away the amazement in his eyes.

She looked around quickly and then indicated with a wave of her hand for Ben to come to her table and sit down. She wondered briefly that he knew her face well enough that he was able to recognize her so quickly. But she pushed the thought to the back of her mind while she watched him sit down on the chair opposite her, shaking his head.

"That's really…" Words failed him and shook his head again. "I really didn't expect you."

"I can imagine," she replied a bit snippily.

"And in this get-up." His hand moved from top to bottom, pointing at her body. "So you seem to know."

Beth stumbled. "What exactly?" she probed.

"That you're wanted by the police," he explained and she thought she noticed a bit of spitefulness in his voice.

"For what reason?" it slipped from her lips in surprise.

He gave her an unbelieving laughter. "Because you're suspected, along with Josef Kostan, of having abducted a seriously injured person from the university hospital. And since the injured man was in a really bad state and is probably dead by now, it's also about murder, unless there has been a miraculous recovery." With these words his eyes virtually bored into hers, watching for the slightest movement in her face.

My goodness, she hadn't even thought of this. Of course, she and Josef would be liable to prosecution with their deed and she slowly realized why her friend had left the States and had chosen a place in Mexico to hide. He had thought further ahead than she had.

"Would you please explain to me what that was about?" Talbot asked and gave her a friendly smile. But there was the undercurrent of a threat lurking in his voice, something that told her she had to be on guard against him.

"I didn't come here to be questioned by you," she replied, smiling as well.

"Why did you then?" he asked much too relaxed and leaned back in his chair eying her up with a stern gaze.

"Oh, that's quite simple," she responded purposely cool. "I decided that _you_ owe _me_ a few answers."

He watched her face for a moment although the sunglasses she was wearing hid the most important part of it. "Concerning what topic?" he asked in a voice that told her clearly that he had already guessed what this was about.

"Mick," she answered briefly.

"What makes you think that I know something you don't know?" he asked still with overstated friendliness. "I think the other way around is much more likely."

"Then please explain to me what made you feel that you had to take over the Mick St. John case about a year ago," she said doggedly. "It isn't as if you two were best friends."

He gave a derisive chuckle. "No, definitely not," he admitted and bent forward to her again, propping both his arms on the table. "Shall I be honest with you, Beth?"

She just nodded, although she knew his honesty toward her would be kept within certain limits as it had always been.

"I don't know why I should give you any information," he said and now his smile vanished. "With your past action you not only made sure you could be prosecuted, and actually, I could arrest you legally right now, but you also brought big trouble down upon me. After all, you officially worked for me until recently and this casts a very poor light on me, at least concerning the choosing of my staff. Why should _I_ justify myself to _you_ of all people?"

"Maybe because you want some new information from me as well?" it slipped out of her mouth before she really thought about it and she almost regretted it the next moment, but, on the other hand, there was seemingly no other way to get anything out of Talbot.

He raised a brow in surprise. "You want to give me some information about St. John's disappearance?" he asked skeptically. "About _your_ friend?"

She wouldn't get out of this so easily, so she nodded as persuasively as possible while she thought about what information she could give him without endangering her friends and most of all Mick.

Ben looked at her more closely and then smiled again. "Is he alive?" he asked instantly.

She hesitated for a moment, but then concluded that he probably already knew Mick was alive. He had heard about the incident in the hospital and was much too smart and careful to not find out who they had taken away from there. The employees had seen her and Josef and had known their names. They had seen Mick and only needed photos to be able to identify him, so she nodded.

"Was he the man in the hospital?" Talbot asked and couldn't hide his excitement about this topic. Apparently he wanted to hear it from her, to test her readiness to exchange real information with him. But she wouldn't make it that easy for him.

"Quid pro quo, Ben!" she replied sternly. "Now it's my turn! How long have you been investigating Mick St. John? And don't try to lie to me because I'll know it if you do."

Her question surprised him a bit, that she could read in his face which wasn't so mask-like anymore. He visibly struggled with himself concerning the answer to that question. But finally he succeeded in bracing himself and swallowed the bitter pill. Information was never for free.

"I didn't start this, Beth," he said much softer than before. "I just took on the file and carried on with it…" He didn't go on but looked at her meaningfully and it slowly dawned on her what he was hinting at.

"Josh." it burst out of Beth who was appalled and her hand shot to her mouth. She felt a small, painful sting in her heart.

Talbot just nodded. "From the start D.A. Lindsay felt uneasy about your new ally and as _I _see it he had every reason for that. He wanted to protect you, Beth."

"I don't need any protection from Mick!" she shot back defiantly and fought against the silly feeling that Josh had somehow betrayed her. Of course he had wanted to protect her, but his jealousy had probably to a certain extent also contributed to this act. Justified jealousy, she had to admit with hindsight.

"There are many more dangerous people in this world," she added, "even in this city."

Ben raised his brows a bit and a cool smile appeared on his lips. "Do you know what_ I_ think?" He didn't even wait for an answer or a question. "I think you're in love with him. All that talk about friendship and cooperation, when probably you're already in a much more intense, more physical relationship with him than you're admitting."

Beth gasped for air, outraged. "I really don't know what business this is of yours!" she hissed, but he stayed composed and looked at her as if she was just a dewy-eyed child that one had to be lenient towards because it didn't really know what it was doing.

"I just think you see St. John in too a rosy light," he said. "Or you _know_ what's up with him and even help him to cover it up, which is even worse."

Beth shook her head in disbelief. "What do you think I am allegedly covering up?" she asked irritably and perfectly covered up the fear that had grabbed her with his words.

He raised a finger in a dunning gesture. "No, no, Beth – quid pro quo. And forget the question from earlier. I _know_ it was St. John you abducted! Where is he now?"

For a man of his caliber and his intelligence this attempt was surprisingly awkward.

"Do you really think I'll answer _that_?" she responded with a sarcastic laugh.

"Well, then explain something else to me," he went on. "How is it possible for a man with deadly bullet wounds to survive without any medical attention, although the doctors in the hospital didn't even give him the ghost of a chance to get through?"

Beth's pulse increased with these words although she had expected a question like that. She studied Talbot's face in depth as he was talking but his expression didn't tell her if he already knew something about Mick's secret and was just testing her honesty again.

"How can a man be knocked down by a car without receiving any serious injuries, stand up just a few seconds later and walk easily into his flat? Tell me, Beth, for I bet you can. After all you were there."

This time Beth was so baffled that she was tongue-tied for a moment and her heart started to beat at a quite unhealthy pace. The photos! Dean Foster's photos of the attempt on her and Mick's life! He'd sent them to Talbot!

Beth needed a moment to collect herself before she was able to speak.

"You know, I don't understand this," she said finally, shaking her head. "Out there are criminals and you hunt a man who's never done anything to anybody but always tried to serve justice and help people who are in need."

"People like you?" Ben asked. "And your mother?"

Now her stomach contracted unpleasantly. How, for God's sake, did he knowabout_ that_?

"It's quite careless not changing your name when you live in the same city for such a long time," he added as if he'd just read her thoughts, "without aging."

"It wasn't Mick," it burst out of her spontaneously. "It was his father."

"Who coincidentally had the same name and the same appearance." Ben's nod of the head was totally contrary to his arrogant smile.

"Exactly," she added as firmly as possible.

"Only that the former Mick St. John didn't have any children," Talbot knew.

"What are you implying with that? That he really doesn't age and owns supernatural powers?" She laughed stiltedly. "This is the reality, there are no such things! Mick is an illegitimate child, which happens. And private detectives have enemies. Why would Mick's father have told other people that he's got a son?"

"Oh, Beth," Talbot shook his head, still smiling arrogantly, "that's really a good performance but if you really want to have answers you had better be honest with me."

"Speaking of answers," she revisited the topic instantly. "I think it's my turn again. Why did you obstruct the investigation on Mick's abduction?"

"What gave you _that_ idea?" Ben asked back. "I just arranged it so that the right people worked on that case."

"So, people who are submissively dependant on you?" she concluded in anger.

He thought for a moment and then shrugged. "You could call it that if you want. I would prefer to say, people whom I can trust fully."

Beth got the little barb immediately but she refused to give him the pleasure of reacting to this. "But you never really wanted to find him."

To her surprise her remark seemed to really affect him. The arrogant line around his lips faded away and his brows furrowed almost angrily. "Of course I wanted to find him!" he snapped at her almost indignantly. "I'm a D.A., Beth, not a fiend! All I want are answers! Answers for the things I just can't explain to myself and which make Mick look really suspicious. And he's not as innocent as you think."

"What are you trying to say?" Beth shot back as agitated as he was.

"Did you ever ask yourself what happened to Chemma Tejada, the man who's responsible for your boyfriend's death?" He looked at Beth, brows raised.

Of course she had asked herself that question before and the truth of the matter was that she already knew the answer. But she had never wanted to think further about this and certainly didn't want to at this time either.

"St. John had several cases which came to nothing because suddenly the suspects disappeared without a trace," Ben went on. "I couldn't prove anything against him up to now but I'm certain that your dear friend has no qualms about killing other people. He has certainly already done so, probably several times. This coupled with all the inconsistencies around him, his odd past and these little questions make him a very dangerous person, one that I feel I _have _to keep a close eye on. "

"You… you have no clue," Beth stammered a bit clumsily. "You don't know him!"

"Then help me to understand what's going on with that man, Beth." It wasn't an order or a strict demand. No, it was a soft, almost pleading comment and this really surprised Beth. Either Ben was an outstanding actor or he was indeed the dutiful advocate who was striving after justice and truth. He simply wanted to comprehend the incomprehensible just like Josh and urgently needed her help for that. But even though he was now looking at her with puppy dog eyes that could melt the heart of any woman, she didn't trust him. He _wasn't_ Josh. There were too many unanswered questions, and hate for Mick had glimmered too often in his eyes during their talk.

"There are also a few things about you I'm not sure about," she said firmly. "For example your weird reaction to my call shortly before Mick disappeared."

Ben frowned confused and took a breath but Beth didn't give him a chance to speak. "I asked for some information about the Jefferson case and you got quite nervous. Strangely enough you instantly came to the conclusion that I called you on behalf of Mick and you became fairly angry."

He uttered a disgruntled laugh. "Are you implying that I was involved in his abduction? What a silly thought."

"Then enlighten me," Beth offered in an exceedingly friendly manner, leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest in a provocative manner.

"The Jefferson case was quite precarious, precisely because he is a politician and is also in the public eye," Ben explained forcefully. "I was very upset with myself that he escaped unscathed but I couldn't change it! I didn't want you and St. John prying into my affairs and causing a stir in the press again. I had clear instructions concerning that case!"

"From whom?" she asked, pricking up her ears.

"That's really not your business," he said strictly and couldn't stop himself from looking around quickly. His cheek muscles twitched slightly when he looked at her again. "Stay out of this, Beth. There are things you shouldn't interfere in."

Beth furrowed her brows pensively while her gaze still lingered on Talbot's tense face. Although he was trying to hide it from her he suddenly appeared much more nervous than before which frightened her a bit. Was it possible that Ben Talbot was under observation?

"Well, then reassure me," she invited him nevertheless. "Just tell me Mick's disappearance had nothing to do with the Jefferson case."

Beth had assumed he would instantly discount her suspicion but to her surprise he kept quiet for a long moment, struggling with himself. Then he inhaled deeply, hastily looked around for a last time and bent toward her. "Officially there's no evidence that points to the fact that both cases are linked," he said in a voice that that was simply screaming for a 'but'. But Ben didn't add anything else to this statement. Instead he leaned back in his chair and looked at her urgently. The glance he gave her told her that she shouldn't ask any more questions about this topic. Not today and certainly not here. But he knew more, much more and he wasn't averse to sharing a part of this information with her. This he conveyed to her in a nonverbal way as well. His need to learn more about Mick was so huge that it was worth the divulgence of his own information and this indicated in turn that Ben really wasn't a henchman of the _Legion_. If he had been he would have known what Mick was. That he had contact with this organization was beyond dispute but she doubted that he knew who they were or what they did.

"And what about the file Mick had set up on the Peterson abduction case?" Beth asked finally.

Ben frowned, trying to look as confused as possible but she didn't buy it. The expression in his dark eyes showed that she'd caught him in a lie.

"Which file?" he asked nevertheless. "We didn't find anything like that. And even if it had existed, his abductors would certainly have destroyed it."

"Not if he'd hidden it," she replied with conviction. "He never leaves his files lie openly in his car. There is a hidden pocket in the interior trim of the passenger door. He once showed it to me. And only the police had enough time and space to discover it."

"And you think I took it and told my guys to not tell anybody about it," Ben concluded from her explanation in a really unnerved voice. "Why would I do something like that?"

Beth tilted her head a bit and smiled at him. "I thought maybe you could explain that to me."

"Then, unfortunately, I have to disappoint you," Talbot answered with a regretful smile. "I really don't have anything else to add to that topic."

And even that wasn't really a negative reply or rebuff. Beth was very sure about this. Ben had clearly just deferred these topics to another meeting, another safe place, another time, and Beth discomfort grew. Talbot didn't scare easily and if he was this careful there had to be a good reason. Now she looked around herself slightly unnerved but the people her gaze touched didn't look suspicious. No one seemed to be watching them.

"I never thought I would say anything like this," Talbot finally said after a short thoughtful silence between them and redirected the topic again, "but I'm glad that St. John is still alive. Otherwise you would never have contacted me again given all the suspicions you have about me. This way I have at least a small chance of getting answers soon to all the questions I have concerning my 'favorite case'."

Beth raised her brows in such arrogant manner that she almost gave Josef Kostan some competition and she smiled softly. "_Soon_ is a very elastic term, "she said.

"And I'm a very persistent person," Ben replied, smiling as heartily as she was. "I'll stay close to you. And like I said once: Where you are, St. John is not very far away."

"Does it mean you'll let me go for now?" Beth asked with an innocent look.

"I'll give you a margin of ten minutes," he promised generously and nodded at her invitingly. "For old time's sake."

Beth grabbed her bag and stood up. She had pre paid her coffee in case she would have to leave hastily. A smart precaution she now thought. "We should meet again soon," she said seriously and saw him nod instantly.

"My sentiments exactly," he added. Beth was surprised when he stood up and pulled her into his arms to say good bye. But she didn't bristle, for she assumed that he had a reason for doing this.

"Be careful," he whispered into her ear with real concern in his voice. "The people you want to tangle with are powerful and they're already searching for you and your friends."

"Which side are you on?" Beth responded, barely audibly.

"My own," was the honest answer. "I'm not the type of person who's easily manipulated by anybody but in some regards my hands are tied at the moment. I won't be able to help you if they get you. So, take care!"

He let go of her and the smile he gave her now was a bit warmer and more authentic then before. "I'll see you then," he said and this time it was her turn to nod. Then she turned around and hurried away, mixing with the crowd who cut their way through the shopping street where the restaurant was.

Talbot's behavior and his last words had frightened her. He acted like a man who was afraid he was being watched and bugged by someone and if that was true this meeting had put her in considerably more danger than she had assumed. She looked around inconspicuously a few times. Then she headed down the street and immediately had the feeling that someone was watching her, that a pair of eyes in a hidden corner followed her and that the dark car she had just passed started the motor just because of her. Of course she knew she was overreacting, but what was the saying? Better safe than sorry.

One thing was definitely clear: She had to go back to the hotel as fast as possible. Even if she wasn't safe there anymore, Simone was the only one who knew how to contact Josef. And he in turn was the only one who could get her safely out of the city.


	24. Differences

_*__It's Sunday, and as I promised here's the next chapter again. Big thanks and hugs to my dear readers who have left a review! You're the best and make this story go on here also in English! And a much bigger hug to Bella (or Sarcasm-the Lowest Form of Wit) who was the beta reader for this chapter and has offered to help me regularly! You're just great! So with the help of my dear betas and my reader's motivating feedback I hope to be able to post the next chapter at Thursday again. Best wishes, Jenna*_

* * *

**D****ifferences**

* * *

_"Our views often change with our intentions."_

_  
__(Peter Sirius)_

* * *

"According to Henry it looks at the moment as if the _Legion_ has ceased the attempts on vampires to regroup and reorganize," Logan explained after I had sat down with him and Seth in the evening to inform me about the results of his work from the last few hours. Hendrik had disappeared into the cellar to recover a bit in one of the freezers and we took this opportunity to finally share information undisturbed.

Seth had really performed the miracle of not only repairing the generator, but also of working on it that way that it was capable of an engine power it had never had before. For that reason, Logan could work here almost as well as from his own shabby chamber at home. Now Seth was sitting with his friend opposite to me on the couch and was sipping satisfied on a big glass of O-positive.

"But that's not all," Logan went on. "It seems as if they need to care once again for the enemies in their own rows. Yesterday evening the police found Rufus Saxton and Pamela Field dead in an old factory. You remember the Saxton-company?"

Do I remember? William Saxton had been one of my most bitter opponents on the Economic market of the 90ties. To my great profit, his son Rufus had been much less talented and shrewd. He didn't ruin the company – there from his marriage with the elder, but very rich, Pamela Field had rescued him - but nevertheless, he had been forced to sell big parts of his company to recover financially. It had surprised me to hear that the Saxton-company should belong to such a dubious organization like the _Legion_, and I would have never thought that Rufus and Pamela were members of that group. That was still a complete mystery to me. For that reason, I stared at Logan for a long moment, just speechless. Like usually, he interpreted that totally wrong.

"You had gotten a hint from an anonymous writer when we were still searching for Mick," he tried to give me a leg up. "But _Henderson & Field_ means something to you, doesn't it? The subsidiary company?"

I gave him an angry look. "I know what you're talking about! I just ask myself which connection Rufus and Pamela had to the Legion…"

"Well, probably they were members," Logan said offhandedly, but I shook my head hesitantly.

"Somehow this doesn't fit to them," I said pensively. "They were the stereotype of a rich couple who were just interested in their own decadent life. I rather think they slid into it through financial problems, and then became a pawn in the hands of other powerful people."

"Then it was probably an act of revenge at the people standing behind them," Logan said. "What do I care about that? In a way, they bear part of the blame that Mick had to go through all those terrible things. Even if they weren't involved directly – they've deserved it."

I couldn't add anything to that. Logan was right. The one who sold his soul to the devil had to reckon that some day Satan would come along to get what belonged to him. Not that I really believed in the devil, but this comparison was so poetically…

"But there's one negative side to the whole thing, also for us," Logan added now. "The Legion doesn't only kill their renegades, but also destroys any information that's linked to them; every little bit of their work. For example, there had been additionally a beautiful little fire in the office premises of the Saxton-company yesterday night, which has destroyed the majority of all documents. Three days ago the same thing happened in one of the offices of the _Henderson & Field_ Corporation."

I looked at him in amazement while my mind formed a thought I hadn't caught before, because of all the worries I had been busy with.

"They're afraid," I stated excited. "The hurry, the panic, the pressure, which is behind any of their actions…. They're trying to cover the tracks which could lead us too close to their organization… They're afraid _we_ could start to hunt _them_!" A joyful laugh escaped my throat, while Logan's face was just one big question mark.

"Why should they be afraid of us?" he finally managed to ask confused. "At the moment we're not really a big danger."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about this," I replied and stood up. All of a sudden I was so antsy that I simply had to move. "We've wrenched the most important research-project from their 'friends' and also a man who knows the faces, and probably also the names of some important persons in their closest environment…"

"But they want to get rid of these persons anyway," Logan gave back without understanding.

"Only a few months ago the Legion was still a closed community, Logan," I responded, pacing up and down before him, excited. "Their success was closely linked to the fact that they worked together, very closely and in utmost secrecy. That was the reason we had such a problem to get some information about them. But now they've divided so extremely that they even kill each other…"

Logan's face lit up, the realization washing over him like a meters high wave. "… and probably betray each other," he added to my sentence. "That means if we only got to a few names through Peterson…"

"… we could probably also identify a few persons from the other side of the Legion in using some tricks and a bit of pressure," I went on for him. "Maybe we could even force our way into the leadership of the Legion."

"Wow!" it burst out of Logan with an excited laughter. "That's the reason why they kill so many of their own people! They really shit their pants!"

"With justification," I said, and pensively ran a hand through my hair. "Because we should exactly do the thing they fear the most: We should start hunting them!"

Logan nodded happily but furrowed his brows in the next second anew. "And how… with Mick at our apron strings?"

Although I cast an angry look at him thereupon, I had to admit that he was right again. Around us were too many building lots and to condition Mick again was absolute priority – in my view, anyhow. But there were a few other people in L.A., a few special teams which were wonderfully equipped for such a mission.

"Anyway, we can't do that alone," I said and sat down on my armchair again. "We need a few people in L.A. who are much more mobile. Max could do this. And you must sit down with Peterson in any case when he's awake. He needs to give you the names of all people he had contact with. Search them in the internet, find out where they hide, so that we're faster than the other side of the Legion and able to use the breach to our advantage."

"Wowowowow… Wait a sec!" Logan lifted his hand in a breaking gesture and looked at me with big, expecting eyes. "Are you appointing me to be the head of operations regarding the 'Legion-grouse-shooting'?"

I screwed up my eyes a bit and bent forward to him. "Legion… what?" I asked confused.

"You know," he replied impatiently. "I need to organize that now, right?"

I felt distinctly how much he was itching to do this. He was barely able to suppress his exhilaration. I took a deep breath and then nodded carefully.

"More or less…," I just managed to say before Logan leapt on his feet, clenched his hand and then performed a gesture which often went along with the call 'Strike!'. Logan decided for a stretched "Yeeees!" and I rolled my eyes, bugged.

"Can I call my team 'Eagle eye'?" he asked the next moment, excited like a little child who had gotten a new toy. I sat up in my chair giving him a glance that was more than skeptical. "And you want to be called Landokhan… doohickey again, don't you?" I asked flabbergasted.

Seth pressed one hand to his mouth to suppress a snort while Logan just gaped at me.  
"Lan-do Cal-riss-ian," he said, stressing every single syllable. "Don't you know Star Wars?"

Of course I'd heard of the movie-series before, maybe I had even seen one or two parts, but I wasn't a person who tinkered with movies and TV a lot. Therefore my life was too much filled with other interesting, more sensual things. Logan, however, was shocked.

"Luke Skywalker?" he helped me. "Darth Vader?"

The sigh escaping my lips came from the bottom of my heart. "I've heard about this, okay?" I said as mild as possible. "But this is about a much more important thing…"

"But any team needs a name," he cut in and Seth nodded his assent.

I looked from the one to the other and shook my head in disbelief. "How old are you?!" It burst out of me unrestrained. "Three?!"

Now it was Logan who gave me a sore look. "If you don't want us then search someone else," he snapped at me huffy and crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. How I would have liked it to do exactly this and to throw Logan and his annoying friend out of the house with a kick in the ass, but at the moment I indeed was dependent on them. I couldn't manage all the difficult things around me without their help. Not to mention the fact that those clowns were for real somehow genius in their fields of work. I quickly dropped my gaze, closed my eyes and counted inwardly from ten downwards. My blood was boiling once again, and if Logan continued like that, I would demonstrate to him, despite his indispensability, what damages an old vampire could cause quite easily without a laser sword.

"Well, Logan," I said constrained when I was able to look at the two silly persons again. "Call your 'team' whatever you want to, but please disappear into your cellar within the next five minutes and start working!"

I stood up abruptly, and at the same time something made a loud rasping noise and a short pain flashed through my thigh. On standing up I had caught the only nail that stood proud on the side part of the armchair and, not only had I just ruined the only trouser I had been willing to wear, but had also quashed the intimidating effect of this rapid move completely. For a moment Logan stared at the damage, and then unsurprisingly snorted with laughter.

"Do you think that's funny, Logan?" I looked at my mightily amused opposite so angrily that he indeed got serious for a moment again.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Josef," he giggled behind the hand he had lifted to his mouth, "but that's just so… so…" Again he started to snort and got up at the same moment to disappear out of my range hastily. Seth stepped in my way bravely as I started to pursue Logan to shred his grin out of his jolly face.

"It's not his fault," he tried to appease me as Logan dashed out onto the veranda and tried to get a grip on his uncontrollable fit of laughter. "That's the tension and excitement and all that. And if then happens something like that…" He pointed subtly at the long, bloody rip in my jeans which ran across my right thigh. The wound healed quickly, but the sight of the ripped cloth was much more painful for me. Now I only had the choice between khaki and cord… gruesome! A cold shiver ran down my spine.

"And there are still other trousers…," Seth added encouragingly.

I just shook my head full of misery and looked at the rip yet again.

"Maybe it's possible to sew it," Seth suggested and my eyes instantly stuck to his face. What a great idea! This would never have occurred to me!

"You can sew?" I asked excited and Seth's features derailed.

"Um, well…," he uttered but I yet patted his shoulder gratefully.

. "Wonderful," I just said. "Then I lay down in one of the freezer now, for a few hours. Logan should take Peterson and start his investigation and you care for my trouser meanwhile…"

This great plan appeased me so much that I almost cheered up…

Of course someone had to thwart my plans again and shatter my chance for a little nap and a bit recovery in a freezer with might and main. I was almost on my way to the freezers when I heard August's voice from the corridor.

"Mick… Mick… wait…," I could hear him call and then the reason for my permanent testiness and exhaustion appeared in the living room. Despite the light anger affecting me, I felt instantly that something was wrong with him. He appeared strangely harried and out of it. His slightly glazed gaze flew across our faces without taking us really in, and then roamed hectically trough the room as if he was searching something. I didn't really have to strain myself to catch his rapid heartbeat and his unsettled breathing. He transpired heavily and from time to time, a light trembling was flashing through his body.

It had been still early in the evening, but to our surprise Mick had fallen asleep in a quiet minute without the adding of a sedative. So we had left him alone. Only August had stayed at his side in case he was haunted by nightmares again and then turned. He hadn't turned for now, but his state indicated that his dreams hadn't been that pleasant. And I was still not sure if he was really awake. Despite his inner turmoil, he appeared so spaced out, as if he was under the influence of drugs and was in a totally different sphere. But one thing was definitely clear: In the morning he had looked much better.

Mick began to move again, tumbled towards the big dresser at one of the walls and ripped open the first drawer to rummage through the things in there.

I furrowed my brows confused and cast a questioning glance at August, who stopped next to me, shaking his head.

"He… he had a nightmare, leapt to his feet and started to turn his whole room upside down," he explained at my unspoken question.

"He doesn't react to address and lashes out if you try to touch him…"

The second drawer flew open, then the third. The despair in Mick's eyes grew with every passing second.

"I get Peterson," August whispered to me, and disappeared out of my range without giving me the chance for reacting. However, I actually had no time for that. I had to care for my friend urgently.

Taking a deep breath, I approached Mick cautiously.

"Can I help you somehow?" I asked as calmly as possible.

No reaction. It was as if I didn't exist. Mick just turned and let his gaze roam through the room anew. The kitchen cabinets became his new target.

"Mick?" I tried it again when he hurried past me and Seth, who had come closer curiously, and stumbled into the kitchen area. One of the doors of the cabinets flew open and then it rumbled aloud when several bowls and pots fell out.

"What bad trip does he have?" it burst out of Seth excited, but I ignored him, like most times when I had no use for him. Instead I followed my friend.

"What are you searching, Mick?" I asked with a coolness I actually didn't own anymore. Mick's strange behavior unsettled me rapidly especially because I could feel the panic increasing inside him more and more, and I still didn't know how to help him. This time he jerked a bit as a reaction to my talk, but still didn't look at me. He raised and, dazed, pressed both hands on nose and mouth as his eyes seemed to fix some point in the distance.

"I forgot… forgot it," I heard him stammer muffled and his hands went up, covered now also his eyes as his upper body moved lightly back and forth several times. When his hands sunk down again the pain and fear in his eyes had grown once more. "What was it… what?!"

"Mick, it was just a dream," I said urgently and took one more step towards him. "You didn't forget anything and you also don't need to search for anything…"

He didn't listen, but got on his knees and opened the next cabinet to sift through it fervently, desperately shaking his head again and again.

I was almost relieved when Peterson hurried into the room along with August. I didn't like to admit it but this was again one of the situations I felt a bit overchallenged with, even if I usually liked to take care of the most things on my own.

"Panic attack?" the professor asked a bit breathless and I nodded instantly.

"But somehow it's a bit different this time," I added quickly. Hitherto Mick hadn't been capable of such complex actions when he had been in that state, had rather had to struggle with his breathing and his heavy trembling until the vampire had burst out of him. He now appeared so adrenalized and at the same time his mind was so far away…

He stood up behind me again, staggering, took a few uncertain steps in one direction, turned into another one and stopped again totally ruffled. Apparently it was difficult for him to orientate and this made him additionally nervous. He shook his head anguished, while his body was now showing the typical signs of a panic-attack: breathlessness, attacks of sweating, trembling.

Peterson didn't hesitate any longer, but approached him as cautiously as I had before. "That was just a nightmare, Michael," he said as calmly as possible. I stumbled. Michael? Was everyone going nuts around me now?

"I… I forgot it… forgot it," Mick gasped but didn't look at him, so that I slowly got the feeling my friend wasn't really reacting to us, but was talking more to himself. The look in his eyes was so oddly empty… and when he was indeed not really awake we had to be very careful not to wake his vampire side unwillingly.

"You didn't forget anything," Peterson went on, trying to calm him down, and reached out a hand for his shoulder.

"No! Wait!" it burst out of me and I tried to grab Peterson, but even with my superhuman rapidity I wasn't fast enough. I indeed caught his arm but his other hand still touched Mick's shoulder.

My friend jerked so heavily with this touch that his knees gave in a bit but then, out of his movement, he recoiled and dashed with his back against the wonky fridge behind him. The loud rattling of the device frightened him anew and he stumbled aside, pressed his back into the wall, his wide eyes roaming panicky from one person to the other, just now really noticing that he wasn't alone. He breathed only fitfully, showing distinctly he still had to struggle with his lungs, so that the panic in his eyes was heading for a quite alarming limit now.

I quickly pulled Peterson backwards and gave him a withering glance, before I pushed him roughly behind me and turned to Mick.

"Calm down, Mick," I uttered quietly and lifted my hands in a calming gesture. "No one here wants to harm you, okay? We're still then same people… and you're no longer in the laboratory. That was just a dream."

But this didn't seem to be the problem any longer. Mick's fear had shifted onto his physical state long since that was getting worse each passing second. The fright had gripped him to the marrow, and he was now gasping for air as if he was indeed choking every minute.

"No… air…," he uttered full of horror and his fingers dug into his chest, tugged at his shirt as if it was baring him from breathing. If Peterson and August hadn't assured me several times that Mick's lungs were in good working order again, and that his asthmatic appearing fits were purely psychologically determined, this would have frightened me deeply. Nevertheless, his state of anxiety could also lead to a circulatory collapse. Peterson had explained it to me hurriedly the last time and, what was much worse, in his case it meant that the wild beast inside him would come out. It was because of that it was absolutely necessary to calm him down as quickly as possible.

"You can breathe, Mick," I told him as I stepped closer to him so that barely an arms length was separating us now. "Your lung is healthy…"

Mick shook his head before I had finished the sentence. His whole body was trembling and jerking so much that his legs finally gave in, and he slowly slipped down the wall, sucking in the air, strained. I crouched down with him and searched his gaze. It wasn't the first time I wished that Beth was at my side. Something told me she could have been a big help in this situation…

"Mick…" I tried it again as I noticed that August hurried out of the room and Peterson stepped closer again. "You need to calm down," I went on when my best friend's frightful eyes indeed looked at me. I also noticed his pupils were overly huge and really had to struggle for not poring over it. "You need to breathe more slowly…"

"Can't… can't do," Mick uttered, his face distorted with fear. His gaze roamed to Peterson and again he recoiled, pressed into the wall more intensely.

"Go away," I hissed at the professor over my shoulder, and he was smart enough to do what I said. Although, in his role as a doctor, he actually felt obliged to help Mick, he understood that, in the meantime, I could assess and handle Mick in many situations much better than he could; as long as we didn't need medical knowledge.

"Try to distract him," I heard the man murmur behind my back. "Help him with pleasant memories… August will be back in a few seconds with a mild sedative."

I was slightly angry that the two doctors again wanted to revert to anesthesia, but I knew I wasn't allowed to show this to Mick. He needed other help and 'distraction' was a good cue.

"I told Beth you've made big progresses," I said with a small smile. "So get a hold of yourself and don't disappoint me now!"

It was unbelievable. Her name alone made that I instantly got his complete attention.  
"We just talked to each other," I lied. "And she was very glad to hear that."

Maybe it was more wishful thinking than fact, but I somehow had the feeling that Mick's massive gasping for air died down. He distinctly put his concentration onto me and his thoughts seemed to move away from his breathing troubles.

"Of course she rather wants to be here with you," I continued and noticed from the corner of my eye that August stormed into the room, hiding a syringe behind his back.

"But she needs to be patient a bit longer," I added but Mick's eyes left mine and captured August's shape who apparently couldn't wait to tranquilize my friend as quickly as possible and came closer to us much too hastily. The shock from yesterday was seemingly still breathing down his neck, otherwise his behavior was barely explainable.

"Wait!" I snarled into August's direction as I noticed the small flame of calmness that had glimmered up in Mick's body was dying down again, but August apparently didn't feel like letting somebody poach on his territory.

"It's better that way," he said, than he pushed past me and grabbed Mick's arm. Though, his patient didn't think the same way as he did and made this perfectly clear. It was just a short but very violent move, a hard stroke with the flat hand against August's chest – but the effect was tremendous. August wasn't just thrown back… he lost the ground under his feet completely, flew backwards into the professor and Seth and dragged them to the ground.

"Don't… touch!" Mick hissed through gritted teeth as he slowly pushed himself up on the wall, still struggling with his breathing. I rose at the same pace and stared at him bewildered. It hadn't been the vampire who had opposed, for Mick was still a human, but he had definitely used the strength of the vampire – without transforming! At least up to this moment, for now with the anger mixing with his fear inside him also his eyes began to change their color.

"Mick! Mick!" I tried to reach him, and barely withstood the urge to grab his shoulders and to shake him. Concerning touches he had expressed himself in no uncertain terms. "Don't let him take over the control! You can stop that! You just have to try it!"

Mick closed his eyes and the fluttering of his lids showed the struggle inside him. Behind me my friends stood up again but no one really dared to get closer again. My nerves were also now stretched to the unbearable and my heart had taken on a quite unusual pace, for I could feel it, could sense the energy radiating from Mick as he turned into a vampire. I held my breath for a second when his lids opened and the vacant stare of his ice-blue eyes hit me. His lips parted, withdrew a bit to expose the sharp peaks of his fangs.

In the course of the long time we knew each other now I had often looked into Mick's vampire face before but he had never earned so much respect from me with such a simple gesture. Nevertheless I noticed immediately that, compared with the human, the vampire was able to handle his feelings and his body much faster. His breathing got instantly slower, the trembling disappeared as was his turmoil which had stirred Mick up so badly before. He was able to push his trauma and all physical afflictions which were linked to that in the back of his mind much better than the human Mick.

I heard somebody close the door from outside – apparently Logan had gotten what was happening here inside and hid now on the veranda – then a strange silence spread out in the room. No one dared to move or to say anything for any of us had seen before how Mick could react when he felt threatened. And he himself seemed to wait tensed for one of us to do something. For some reason he seemed to assume that the biggest danger was springing from August for Mick's eyes stuck to the doctor and when I carefully turned a bit I understood why. August held still the syringe in his hand and his posture spoke volumes that he would use the next opportune moment to inject Mick the sedative.

"Put it away!" I hissed to him without really moving my lips. "We'll manage this without that…"

"No," August replied ever so quietly to my discontent. He fixated Mick the same way he did. "We must vanquish him."

I shook my head barely notable, but then concentrated on Mick again. "We won't do anything to you," I addressed him and instantly felt he was listening to me although he was keeping a close eye on August. "If you don't attack us we'll leave you alone as well, okay?"

I could see Mick's mind working. He indeed seemed to think about my offer and proved in doing so that Beth had been right with her assumption. Even the vampire in Mick wasn't just a wild animal without reason and control. One just had to give him the chance to use both.

To my and his misfortune exactly in that moment Hendrik entered the living room still totally sleepy. If he had noticed the turmoil or had just woken up without a reason wasn't clear to me but he came at a quite awkward moment…

All gazes rested on the new arrival for an instant then everything happened very fast: August and Mick tried at the same moment to take the opportunity for catching out the other one and leapt forwards. Mick's shoulder hit my face so that I was thrown to the side and had no chance to intervene and Peterson and Seth backed away scared to make as much room as possible for the two opponents. Mick's drive was much stronger than August's and he buried the doctor under him within just seconds. A gurgling scream of pain told me Mick was again using his teeth on him and brought me back on my feet in an instant. Even though Mick was my friend I knew that the chance to fix the problem in a peaceful way was wasted. So I grabbed Mick's shoulder and pulled him off August with all my might, cast aside together with him. Something cracked audibly in my shoulder when we crashed into one of the cabinet bases of the kitchen and the next moment Mick's elbow hit my face painfully. The punch forced me to let go of him. He darted for August anew, who had gotten to his feet stumbling, and now screamed at Peterson to get an additional syringe with a sedative. Then he was knocked over again.

I rose up and dashed towards the two vampires who were now in the living room. But also Hendrik had decided to intervene and launched himself heroically against Mick, who lost his balance through the impact and was slung a big distance away from August. Hendrik pursued him bravely, but Mick was back on his feet again, uttered an angry growl and leapt at his new opponent with the deadliness of a crazed feline predator. Once more plaster and bits of wood crumbled from the wall they bounced against and Hendrik gave off a surprised cry of pain as Mick's teeth dug into his shoulder with all might.

I wasn't really thinking about the things I was doing neither was I able to really conceive a plan. I only knew I had to stop Mick and therefore just one way came into question. With vampire speed I ripped the syringe from August's hand, who still struggled to get to his feet, and covered the distance to Mick in a split second. But I wasn't able to inject him the serum. Somehow he had sensed me for he flounced and his arm blocked mine. The syringe flew through the air with a high arc as he launched at me, uttering a furious growl. I lost my balance and went to the ground, pulling him over with me. There was again a cracking when my back hit the deck boards in a very painful way and Mick's weight dented my ribcage so that I had to struggle for air. Nevertheless I was able to push an arm between my throat and Mick's fangs and to keep him from biting into my carotid. Mick's rage already bordered on franticness – this I felt in the violence and thereby also in the painfulness of his bite. I had to clench my teeth tightly not to yell loudly, pushed my other arm between us with difficulty and braced myself against him with a vengeance. For a moment he still resisted but then, all of a sudden, he let go of my arm and rolled aside, rose up and staggered backwards hitting the next wall. His hand had roamed to his nape, grabbed something there and fetched the emptied syringe.

A few heartbeats long I was as confused as Mick until I realized Seth was kneeling next to me. He looked over to Mick, more frightened than confident of victory and couldn't believe himself what he had just done. Mick now swayed alarmingly but struggled against the approaching faint with all his might. He shook his head jerkily again and again to keep himself awake and propped himself up on the wall but his fight was hopeless. After a few more minutes of tormenting tension Mick slowly slipped down the wall and remained sitting in a fairly upright position, visibly exhausted. It was a bit painful for me to stand up again but I did it and went over to Mick. The bite-wound had started to heal yet but my broken ribs would need a bit longer for healing and hampered every move in a very agonizing way. Still my worry for my friend moved me forward to him. To my surprise he had still not fainted but the look in his now again so human eyes was so empty that a cold shower ran down my spine. He was totally exhausted but the source of energy inside him that somehow didn't want to die down seemed to keep him awake compulsively. I sensed somebody was stepping next to me and the rapid beat of a human heart told me it was Peterson.

"My goodness!" he uttered breathlessly and shook his head without understanding. "I swear there's something wrong…"

"He's just growing stronger every day," August voice resounded from behind us and the light trembling of it indicated he was as agitated as we were.

Peterson shook his head anew and looked at me from aside. He somehow seemed to feel I was thinking the same as he: Mick's returning strength couldn't be the only reason for this lapse. But I didn't say anything. Instead I just went on watching Mick, who closed his eyes just to rip them open again the next moment, with light frightening.

"Mick?" I asked gently and he indeed looked at me with that dead gaze, that deeply resigned expression in his eyes. "I bring you back into your room again now, all right? But I have to touch you for doing that. Is that okay?"

He reacted much delayed but finally he nodded. Peterson made a move to help me when I bent forwards to Mick, but I pushed the doctor aside and signified him wordlessly to stay out of this. Because of my own injuries this time it wasn't that easy for me to get Mick onto his feet again but when he stood again we got along quite well. He indeed needed my support to keep his balance and take over a bit of his weight, but he could walk on his own and didn't put as much weight on me as I had assumed. Surprising… very surprising. The questions in my head increased with every step we were taking towards his room.

The two doctors followed us. I could hear their muffled steps behind us. But they didn't exchange a word as if there was an unspoken problem between them. I could imagine what it was. Mick had been in August's custody when he had lost his head and that lead of course to the question what had been the reason for that and if the doctor had done something wrong. A question which imposed not only on Peterson.

I helped Mick to lie down on his bed and covered him solicitously with a blanket, for he had started to shiver again. But he was now so tired that he instantly closed his eyes and seemed to drop off.

"Does he need something else?" I addressed quietly to Peterson, who had approached us carefully and was now watching Mick's form full of sorrow.

"Maybe we should give him some blood and a medicament against possible cramps – as a pure precaution," he suggested. But August shook his head.

"Above all he needs rest now," he said firmly. "We shouldn't agitate him further more…"

Peterson gave his colleague a critical frown, but then turned to me quickly.

"Every transformation leads to changes in his blood balance and his metabolism," he explained insistently. "Besides his musculature was stressed extremely what can lead to strong cramps from time to time. I just want to prevent this from happening…"

I avoided to look at August and nodded to Peterson invitingly. He was the expert here, when it was about Mick. August had to grasp the fact that also Peterson was a capable doctor and scientist.

Relief was shown in Petersons face and he instantly began gathering the utensils he needed while I gently lifted up the blanket a bit and rolled up Mick's sleeve that far that the crook of his arm was exposed. My friend wasn't doing any move. He now breathed deeply and calmly and seemed to be fast asleep. But I stopped shocked and fixed the small dot-shaped wound which was now clearly visible in the crook of his arm. I could see and even smell that the minimal injury was fresh and issued from a needle. My brows knitted broodingly. Yesterday night Mick had neither gotten medicaments nor a blood transfusion…

Ever so slowly I turned to August and gave him a look that was clearly telling him that my discovery made me more than angry. August didn't seem to feel very comfortable anymore, scratched slightly nervously his trimmed pointed beard but held my gaze.

"What did you inject into him?" I snarled at him with clenched teeth and Peterson, who just had wanted to set to work, stopped in his move surprised. I couldn't do anything against it, I felt suddenly fooled and betrayed and had a good mind to launch at August and end what Mick had started in the living room. There were not many people I'd given as much trust as August had got since he had been working with us. I had laid down my best friend's life into his hands and now something like that happened!

"I didn't inject him something," August replied slightly contrite. "I… I took a blood sample from him."

I stared at him in anger, not able to believe him just one word. A taking of a blood sample wouldn't hardly likely cause someone to go that wild.

"But why?" Peterson asked now instead of me, although this question was of secondary importance for me.

August took a deep breath. "Because I think we should do this much more regularly – possibly before and after his transformation! Only that way we can get the data we need to work with him."

"In which way 'work'?" I snarled and had big difficulty to keep up my composure. There was such a bad suspicion imposing on me slowly.

August looked at me slightly confused. "We are trying to create him to a normal person again, don't we?" he asked me. "What else do you expect me to plan?"

"I'm not really sure about that," I responded warily and stepped a bit closer to him. August held his ground well. He didn't even back away an inch and also showed no hint of fear or insecurity.

It was Peterson who didn't get on as well as we did with the tension between us. "Oh, please, that's… that's still the stress of the last days and the whole agitation," he stammered and stepped up to us, looking nervously from one to the other. "We shouldn't start to mistrust and attack each other just because it's not going so well some time and we're not agreeing in a single point. We… we all just have Mick's best interests at heart, don't we?"

For a long moment August and I kept just staring at each other, frozen, then he nodded noncommittally. "Yes, of course," he agreed with the professor. Nevertheless, I was sure that he was stretching the truth. August had spoken about Mick too often in a way that had puzzled me. Mick was not one of his friends. They hadn't met each other before, and lately it had appeared to me as if August figured my friend more as a most interesting research-object than a feeling and thinking being. That he was wishing for more data to work with was a recent proof for that. And I still doubted that he had simply taken his blood.

"Well," I said finally in a gentle voice and took a further, small step toward him. I was so close to him now that I could almost feel his breath on my face. "To get this straight once and for all," I went on lowly and a threatening shark-smile appeared on my lips. "Concerning Mick I don't want you to do anything, what's not coordinated with us before. You got that?"

August gritted his teeth so strongly that I could see the twitching of his cheek muscles beneath his skin. But he nodded reluctantly. The iron-like look I stared with into his eyes told him clearly that at the present time it was better for him to remain silent and acquiesce my orders.

"Then… I'll better withdraw now," he said slightly reserved after a short moment of recollection. I just nodded, but kept my eyes glued to him until he had left the room.  
"I thought I could trust him," I grumbled when his steps on the wooden floor had faded away.

"You can," Peterson said comfortingly and I turned to him frowning. My gaze seemed to outface him a bit but he stuck to his opinion. "I have the highest respect for his medical knowledge. But that all…" He shook his head. "I think he's simply not used to take a back seat in a team. He told me he is medical superintendent of a well known private clinic and there he's the one who makes the decisions…"

"It's not about that," I interrupted his enthusiastic apologia harshly. "I think he keeps something from me. He'd done more than to take a blood sample from Mick."

Peterson appeared not really surprised about this accusation but tried hard to feign it to me. "What makes you so think so?"

I uttered an almost amused sound and pointed in a mute gesture to Mick, who was sleeping peacefully now.

"This… this can have different reasons," Peterson tried to hoax me. "I mean, why should August inject him medicaments he can't handle?"

I shrugged. "Maybe to test his reactions to them?"

"I don't think so," Peterson said and now sounded really persuaded. "Of course it's tempting to every doctor to work with a case like Mick, but August is too professional to let himself get carried away with senseless experiments – especially if someone can get as dangerous as Mick."

"What then?" I asked directly. "What else had he done to upset Mick that much?"

"Maybe he did nothing else," Peterson suggested. "Maybe the fit was simply that different because... because…"

Apparently he also lacked in good reasons. It was easier and more pleasant to hold a medicament or a drug at fault for Mick's inexplicable behavior than to assume we were still totally awkward and clueless concerning his psychological problems. And maybe this was the reason I wasn't really fair with August. Maybe he indeed didn't deserve my mistrust.

Peterson wasn't able to find the words he needed so badly, so he just uttered a deep sigh and slouched his shoulders resignedly.

"No matter why Mick freaked out that much," he finally said, "I figured out one thing: We've got to bring back his girl."

I knitted my brows and looked at the professor in light confusion. "Why?"

"For he also maybe overreacted that strongly because she wasn't there," was the simple answer. "I think he searched for her."

"… in the kitchen cabinet?!" The look I was giving him could also have been directed to a mental patient.

Peterson uttered a small laughter. "You call something like that a 'displacement reaction'. He wasn't quite all here but knew inwardly that he missed something, something he needed urgently. So he searched for it desperately."

Amazingly, his explanation sounded quite logically and it suited Mick – on the surface brave and collected but in his inside wistfully starving for his beloved one. The old Mick-Beth-drama again.

"And honestly, do you really think we get on top of Mick right in time without her?" Peterson went on. "The last days showed clearly how difficult it is to bring him back to life. The human inside him needs also a human at his side, who is able to show him the beautiful sides of the human existence. He's just surrounded by blood, fear and unknown people at the moment. Plus he is in a new environment. How can we be surprised that he doesn't find the way back to himself and owns no real motivation to start living properly? What's worth living for at the moment?"

Even if I didn't like to admit it, Peterson was damn right with every word he was saying. The only other human in this house was the professor himself, the man whose sight had to remind Mick inevitably of the terrible time in the laboratories. All other persons were vampires, who had no notion of how it felt to be a human. Of course it wasn't Mick's first time he was belonging to the mortal ones again, but he had never been this weakened, this ill before. The only person who was able to make life palatable to him again was Beth. And exactly her I had send away to protect her from Mick. The difficult question I was asking myself was: who of them was in the greater danger? Mick, if we kept Beth away from him and he couldn't make the progresses he actually needed to make, or Beth if we allowed her to get close to him again and exposed her to his attacks in doing so?

"We have just two weeks left, Josef," the professor urged me. "We're running out of time and Mick isn't even close to a state we can let him have contact with other, unknown people…"

I nodded understanding and then shook my head immediately. "He has hurt so many of us today…"

"Because he had felt threatened – with good reason!" Peterson defended Mick's behavior. "He needs her, Josef. And you can't keep them away from each other forever."

My gaze rested now on Mick's relaxed face. If I brought Beth back here he would be the first one who would address reproaches to me – of that I was very sure. His own behavior had certainly shocked him more than any other of us, and since this morning I knew he could indeed remember his lapses.

"Why don't you call her and let _her_ make the decision?" the professor suggested. I gave him a deeply pensively look and then decided with a nod of my head to accept his advise. Even if I already knew how she would decide I had at least the feeling not to be the only one who was responsible for the future incidents. After all, Beth was a grown woman.

I inhaled deeply and pulled my cell-phone out of my pocket. It took a while until it switched on. Then, with remorse, I dialed the number I could contact her and Simone with. I was surprised when I heard instantly Beth's tensed voice.

"Josef?" she called into the phone agitated, and to my horror I thought I heard traffic noise in the background.

"Beth, where the hell are you?!" The question instantly bursting out of me.

"Oh, thank god!" she blurted relieved. She was breathing quickly and deeply and I was certain, she was walking in a very quick pace.

"You… you must help me. I need a safe place or someone who can pick me up here… or…"

"Beth!" I interrupted her fiercely and my own pulse quickened distinctly. "Where are you?!"

"At the moment in the Sungrove Circle," she panted into the phone, "but I'm trying to get to the Lampson Avenue and then to stop a taxi there."

I nervously ran a hand across my face, while I felt hot and cold at the same time. "What the hell are you doing there?!" I called appalled.

"That's… that's difficult to explain in a short time," she stammered. "But I… I… Josef, I think someone is following me!"


	25. Escape into the unknown

_*__I'm so proud. With the help of my great betas (thanks and hugs to Jo this time) I really have found my tact now. The next chapter is ready and I think at Sunday I'll post another one again. I thank you all so much for your great reviews. That's a support I really need. So feel hugged, too, my dears. And now I wish you much fun with the next chapter! Best wishes, Jenna*_

* * *

**E****scape into the unknown**

Beth knew that Josef was terribly angry, but his concern for her was even greater than his anger, so he did not fly off the handle but immediately switched into helper mode, which was what she needed now.

She was still not quite sure if she was right in her assumption that the dark BMW which passed her just now was the same one that had caught her attention before. But she asked herself, were there generally so many cars of the same type in this region that were also equipped with tinted windows?

Beth was a very observant person and there wasn't much that escaped her attention because a reporter needed this capability. It was because of this that she had been able to spot Mick when they had met for the first time. She just sensed it when someone was watching her. And she was sure that this time it was the same. There was someone behind her following her on foot, but she didn't dare turn around. Sometimes situations got even worse when the enemy knew they'd been spotted.

"How many are there?" she heard Josef's tense voice through the telephone as she was walking down the street at a brisk but not conspicuously fast pace.

"I don't know exactly," she responded quietly. "I haven't been able to actually see anyone, but I think they're following me with a car and on foot."

A thoughtful silence followed her words.

"If it's the _Legion_ they won't attack you immediately. At least not as long as you're able to fool them that you haven't noticed them," Josef put her own thoughts into words. "If they know who you are they may be hoping that you'll lead them to us. You have to make sure they continue to believe that so try to act calm and unaware of their presence. Is there a mall or anything else like that nearby, if possible, a building with video cameras and security guards?"

Beth let her gaze roam over the larger buildings in her immediate vicinity and tried to place them somewhere. "There could be something like that ahead," she finally said, and her already quickly beating heart gave a joyful leap. "Very good," she heard Josef say enthusiastically. "Then go there! Logan!" She could hear that Josef was moving away and then exchanging a few hasty words with someone even farther away.

Just the feeling that somewhere out there were people who were trying to help with her problem and that she wasn't left alone took away a bit of the fear that had been bottled up inside her for the last few minutes. She walked to the street and waited until there was no traffic and then hurried across it towards the long, brightly lit building that was now close to her. The building was visited by many people who came to quickly do their after work errands or just stroll through the mall. It was odd, but in some way it seemed to promise her protection and assistance and her steps quickened automatically. The shock was all the greater when she noticed from the corner of her eye that only a few feet away from her two people crossed the street and adapted their own pace clearly to hers. How Beth would have loved to be wrong with her persecution theory, but now she was sure that someone was after her.

"Beth," she heard Josef's comforting voice. "I'm going to organize someone to pick you up, but you really have to stay around other people! So, go into the building and get yourself a position with decent surveillance and I'll call you right back."

'No! Don't hang up! I need to hear your voice!' she wanted to call into the phone in panic, but instead she compressed her lips tightly and put the phone into her pocket before the connection was even broken. The role of a frightened little girl was simply not in her nature although this pathetic person existed somewhere inside of her. But she had no chance against the strong, quick thinking and acting Beth, who always took over the lead immediately in these situations.

Beth tried to slow down her pace a bit when she arrived at the large revolving door of the shopping center. The many people who came her way and stepped through the door with her gave her a little more courage and strength and when she walked into the interior of the building she was almost convinced she would be able to escape her pursuers with no problems.

The center was huge and for such a late hour quite crowded. It spanned two floors and had everything that people might need to organize their daily lives: clothing stores, drug stores, a supermarket, a large department store, jewelry stores, small shops where there were all sorts of knick-knacks, and so on and so forth. Video cameras seemed to be everywhere and soon she spotted some security guards who were engrossed in a conversation near the big fountain in the middle of the center. So she strolled towards them trying hard to look relaxed, while she let her gaze roam over the many shops that had found a truly profitable location here. The center was quite crowded and even on her short trip to the fountain she had to wind her way around some extremely stressed out looking visitors in order not to collide with them.

She stopped by the rotating clothing stand of a small boutique and pretended to inspect the special offers available to the public more closely. She turned so that she could keep an eye on the entrance without much effort. The sunglasses she was wearing enabled her to let her gaze wander unseen. She soon discovered the couple that had followed her had, to her discomfort, unfortunately also entered the center and was undoubtedly closer to Beth than she would have preferred. The man who was tall and strong with a neat beard and a dark leather jacket had now stopped with apparent interest at a men's clothing shop. His companion, a tall woman with dark hair that was pulled up and a stony face walked over to a beauty shop. Both looked very athletic and wore clothes that wouldn't hamper them during a chase. Fortunately, Beth had also remembered to slip into flat shoes but she was still aware that it would not be easy to shake off these two people assuming it was only these two she had to worry about. She winced when the phone began to vibrate in her pocket again and pulled it out quickly.

"Hi!" she said aloud with a beaming smile and the sweetest girlie voice she had in her repertoire. The enemy was too close to be able to speak openly. "You finally called me! I'd begun to think you had forgotten me!"

For a moment there was a puzzled silence at the other end of the line and Beth was afraid that Josef would immediately hang up assuming he had a wrong number, but fortunately he had an alert mind much like Mick and immediately got why she was behaving strangely.

"How close are they?" he asked bluntly.

"That's nice," she said with a small, cutesy smile. "I wish I would live _right across_ from you."  
"How many?"

"Perhaps about _two_ o'clock?"

"Listen, Logan is just hacking into the video cameras of the shopping center," Josef said. "If you tell me where you are we can find out if there are other people who are watching you."

"Okay," she said smiling, watching with trepidation as the bearded man slowly walked over to the deli which was right next door to her boutique. "I wish you were here," she said dreamily, and walked slowly toward the fountain again backing away from her pursuers. "This_ fountain_ is so romantic."

It took a moment until Josef spoke again.

"Okay, have you disguised yourself somehow?" he asked, somewhat confused. "We can't seem to spot you."

"What, you really cannot remember me?" she asked. "The long-haired brunette from last night!" She ran a hand through her hair in a narcissistic gesture being careful not to move her wig, but nevertheless giving Josef a clear sign.

"Wow, not bad," she heard Josef smile appreciatively. "Maybe they don't know whom they're following. With whom did you meet? Maybe that's who they were observing."

This was hard. It was hardly possible to disguise Ben's name in any way, so she just smiled and hissed very quietly through gritted teeth into the phone a short "Talbot".

Silence. Even over the vast distance that lay between them Beth could feel Josef's anger returning abruptly.

"You met with Talbot?" he snapped at her unrestrained and gasped for air indignantly. "Have you lost your mind? You're lucky that he hasn't arrested you! Damn! Beth! You ... you ..." Words seemingly failed him and he panted angrily a few more times, then she could hear him breathe in deeply. "Okay, we ... we'll talk about that later," he said to her relief. "I have sent Max to get you but it will take a little while until he's there. Do you think you can keep your pursuers in check that long?"

"Yes, I think so," she returned quietly. The woman had also moved and was headed purposefully toward the clothing rack of the boutique where Beth had previously stood. She gave no indication of having noticed that the person she was shadowing was organizing her escape. Nevertheless, Beth strolled unobtrusively towards the two guards she had discovered upon entering the center. But they seemed to have finished their exciting conversation, parted with a comradely pat on the shoulder and moved away in different directions. Whom should she follow? Was it even necessary to follow them? She paused, with a bit of uncertainty and looked after them feeling somewhat uneasy.

"Logan says that there are two other people on the upper floor who are inconspicuously watching you," Josef enlightened her and Beth's stomach did another one of those turbulent somersaults. This wasn't exactly good news. Shaking off two people was one thing, but four was something entirely different. She started slowly to feel quite uncomfortable in her skin. Especially now that the guards had gotten lost in the ever-moving shuffle of shoppers and she had no idea where to find them.

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and had to cough before she was able to speak again. "When are you coming this evening?" she asked, trying to sound somewhat smitten and hoped fervently that her friend immediately deciphered what she really wanted to know.

He did understand. "You have to give Max at least fifteen minutes," he said. "Maybe he'll be faster, but I cannot promise that. You need to move to the entry at the back of the building as unobtrusively as possible, of course. "

He broke off and Beth knew immediately that something was wrong. Her eyes flew over to her pursuers and she noticed instantly that the posture of the two had changed. The woman pressed her forefinger against her ear which told Beth that she was connected by radio with someone outside. The man had paused his movements and seemed also to listen to some person who was invisible to Beth and who seemed to have given him some new important instructions.

"Run, Beth!" Josef's strained voice took on an extremely urgent tone. But she didn't need him to tell her that because she had already set herself in motion and moved at high speed through the mass of people who went eagerly from shop to shop and made it quite difficult to move rapidly. She did not need to turn around to know that the odd couple immediately followed on her heels. It was more important to make sure the other two tails were not able cut off her path. But luckily she had help.

"Turn right," Josef commanded and she reacted immediately rushing into one of the side wings of the building which was just as busy.

"Where are the others?" she panted. Her heart pounded most painfully against her ribcage while at the same time she had great difficulty fighting the paralyzing fear inside her. Again and again she bumped painfully against bags, shoulders, arms, as she fought to slalom her way through the crowd all the while praying that her pursuers were having as much trouble getting ahead as she was.

"They must first find the escalator on the other side," Josef tried to calm her. "Somewhere on the left side must be a side exit. It leads to the control rooms of the security operation. Go there. It definitely gives you a little bit more time. They will not dare to attack you before the guard's eyes."

"Okay," she uttered, strained, striving to believe him and then threw a quick look behind her. Her heart almost jumped up into her throat as the bearded guy was much closer to her than she had assumed. He simply pushed the people who did not dodge him on their own rudely out of his way despite their vociferous protests. And now barely two meters were separating them. Panic gripped Beth and caused her to speed up even more. Now it no longer mattered to her that she might be hurting other people during her escape and she rammed them with such force that some of them cried out enraged and struggled to maintain their balance.

Suddenly the door was very close to her. Beth didn't think, just pulled it open and stormed inside.

"The other left!" Josef called into her ear with horror but it was too late. She couldn't go back now. She didn't have time to look around but noticed while she was running that she was now in one of the hallways that connected the two floors of the center with each other. The next moment she rushed up the stairs. Cold horror seized her when only a few seconds later she heard her pursuers rip open the door below her and follow her up the stairs. She pushed herself off the banister in order to turn the curve even faster and at the same time she reached with her other hand into her pocket. Although she was panic-stricken, the cool, small can she immediately found felt good to her fingers but it didn't help to push down her fear as much as the sound of Josef's voice did. She could hear him calling loudly for her through the cell phone that she could no longer press against her ear. She couldn't answer him now and he couldn't help her at the moment. All that mattered now was her physical strength, her quickness and her ability to push back her fear enough so that she remained capable of action. This really was not very easy because her pulse was racing and she felt the strong urge to cry out loudly for help. But here certainly no one would hear her.

Beth had always been very fast and because of running regularly in the park was in pretty good shape but the bearded man seemed to be a real powerhouse. Already on the second landing he was so close to her that once he tried to grab her over the banister. Beth dodged him at the last second with a swerving movement and now took two steps at a time to put more distance between them. Her heart was racing in her chest and the faint burning in her lungs told her that her strength was running short faster than she would have liked. The bearded man, however, didn't seem to feel the same way. He, too, was now taking several steps at a time and at the next landing he caught hold of her hair. Beth threw herself forward with a suppressed cry and with her next breath was rid of her wig. Her panic now shot so much adrenaline through her veins that she indeed managed to move faster. But even that did not seem to be enough. The man's thundering steps were soon so close that Beth knew that he had caught up with her even before his fingers dug into her jacket from behind. However, if he thought that she would give up without a fight he was profoundly wrong. She felt a powerful jolt when he pulled her backwards but Beth didn't put up any resistance. Instead, she used the drive of her attacker to turn around like lightening, pulled her hand out of her jacket and brought the pepper spray close to his eyes. She didn't hesitate for a second and pushed the release button with the coolness of a killer. The man backed up but had no time to escape the strong squall of the gas. He screamed, horrified, and screwed up his eyes as the woman who came up the stairs behind him stopped, confused. Beth had the presence of mind to throw herself forward onto the steps, raise her leg in a swift motion and kick with her heel hard against the chest of the yelling man who had pressed his hands against his face. He immediately lost his balance and fell backwards down the stairs knocking his partner over.

Beth was instantly back on her feet rushing up the stairs and finally through the next door that led into the salesroom of a big clothing store. Her legs felt like jelly and now her muscles were in almost as much pain as her lungs were. She still ran a few steps more, and then she rapidly slowed her pace down and soon mixed with the other busy customers of the store, struggling hard for breath. She was now so fearful that she could no longer avoid looking back over her shoulder again and again, reckoning that at any moment one of her pursuers would appear behind her again. But she could not see anyone which didn't mean that she had indeed succeeded in getting rid of them even if their fall had looked pretty bad. She would only be able to find this out for sure from Josef.

Beth stopped dead in her tracks and got hot and cold all at once as she stared into her empty hand. She had lost the phone! It must have slipped from her hand during the scuffle and she hadn't even noticed it in the whirl of excitement! She brought both her hands to her mouth appalled and for an instant was not able to breathe as the tightness grew in her chest. For a moment, the paralyzing horror gained the upper hand over her exhausted body and she felt so alone and helplessly delivered to the mercy of fate. She tumbled weakly into a slightly hidden corner and held onto a clothes rack in order not to give in to the weakness and shaking of her knees and slump down. She glanced back in the direction where she had come from and felt tears of despair slowly filling her eyes. She could not go back under any circumstances. She was totally on her own from now on and had to compete alone against at least four probably very dangerous people.

'Move, Turner,' she snapped at herself, inhaled deeply and shakily and closed her eyes for a few seconds. 'You can do it! You can make it! You have already coped with worse situations,' she said to herself. 'Think of Mick. You cannot leave him in the lurch.'

Indeed she managed with violent effort to push her fears a little bit aside and to begin to move again. Her eyes flew frightened over the faces of the people who moved around her and her fingers tightened around the small spray bottle in her hand, the only weapon she had at the moment. But her mind slowly began to work again.

Josef had said Max would soon pick her up and that she had to go to the back exit of the center. Perhaps she could manage to get there unseen even without his help. She only had to change her look a bit once more. She stopped at a shelf with various hats and caps and hectically picked out a baseball cap with trembling fingers, looking again and again over to the door of the hallway through which she had entered the store. But still neither of her two pursuers showed up. Apparently, her attack had a more lasting effect than she had assumed.

Beth hurried to the nearest check out counter. Fate was kind to her because only one woman was ahead of her. The woman was almost finished and soon the cashier turned to her. She needed only a few minutes and then Beth was able to hurry on with her new acquisition. In a hidden corner behind some clothes racks, she briskly pinned up her hair, put on her cap and stuffed all the remaining strands of hair quickly underneath it. She took off her sunglasses and slipped them into her jacket pocket and then took off the jacket and tied it around her hips. A brief glance into a mirror hanging nearby told her that she looked really different. She was not sure if this was enough but she just didn't have any more time. She peeked cautiously over the racks and moved after she still wasn't able to detect anything suspicious. With a still far too rapidly beating heart and shaky legs she went toward the escalator. The tension weighing on her was almost painful and she constantly had to bolster herself up to keep herself from falling victim to a nervous breakdown. After the stressful time with Mick this was simply too much for her. But she had to get through this, had to make it because this wasn't just about her own life. After all, these people wanted to get to Mick most of all and to cause him more suffering and she wouldn't allow that, would_ never_ allow it! She gritted her teeth as she reached the floor below stepped from the escalator and marched now with much firmer steps towards the exit of the store. She could see no one who was still after her.

When she stepped out of the store she took a moment to orient herself. This time she was on the other side of the fountain and if she wasn't wrong she just had to go left which would take her directly to the back exit. She took a deep breath and looked around to be sure that no one had spotted her and then moved taking care not to move too fast but with a speed appropriate to the situation bringing her closer to her goal as quickly as possible. Her stomach did an unpleasant turn when she noticed that two men were heading her way at a run, visibly searching for someone in the crowd. With their dark clothing and their aggressive behavior they made room for themselves which told her that these two had to be the other 'employees' of the _Legion_ who were also after her. She lowered her gaze quickly and just went on, hoping and praying that they would not recognize her in her new disguise. Once again fate seemed to be on her side, because the two darkly dressed, stout men hurried past her without taking notice of her. Perhaps it also helped that they had discovered precisely at this moment another blond woman who looked similar to her and made a beeline for her.

Beth incited herself to a faster pace again. The exit was not far away now and if she was lucky, maybe Max was already there.

It had already gotten quite dark outside when she pushed open the heavy glass door of the center and stepped out onto the large parking lot that lay behind the building. But that was not the reason why she couldn't detect anyone ready to pick her up. There was simply no one there. She took a few steps forward, took a deep breath and then cast a glance at the shopping center again with great unease. Of course, the two men from earlier had somehow gotten her scent and now rushed toward the door. Beth turned around immediately and ran off across the parking lot past parked cars while avoiding the moving ones. The rapid footsteps behind her caused her heart to race and the suppressed panic to blossom again. Quickly her lungs began to rattle and her sides to ache again. But she would not give up, could not give up, no matter how close the men were to her. There had to be another way, a chance to escape - had to be!

Somewhere she could hear the squeal of tires and the roar of an engine and at that moment she knew she had lost. She couldn't cope with a car.

A black BMW suddenly shot through one of the parking spaces and cut her way towards the road. Beth was able to brake and dart sideways; worming her way through two parked cars. Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed the dark van that had appeared out of nowhere and now rounded a corner just a few meters away from her and then rapidly accelerated. Beth stopped abruptly to avoid bumping into it and couldn't believe what she was seeing when the heavy van rammed the BMW which was driving parallel to her. The force now pushed the BMW with a deafening crash into two parked cars. That made it impossible for its occupants to leave the car even if they wanted to.

Beth hadn't recognized anyone in the van but a turbulent feeling in her belly that was fluctuating between fear and hope told her that this was the help she had been waiting for and she should run to the van. But she didn't get far because someone threw himself onto her from behind and carried her off her feet. She gasped as she painfully hit the ground and for a moment a heavy body rested on top of her, but then the man got to his feet again and pulled her up with him. She stumbled backwards against someone and something hard and cool was pressed painfully against her temple while she was roughly pressed against the solid body behind her.

"If you attack me you'll ...," the man began to yell close to her ear but he didn't get out more because Beth rammed her elbow into his stomach with full force, disregarding the weapon which could have easily gotten activated by her rapid movement. Her attacker, however, was so surprised that he neither thought about shooting her nor about keeping a firm grip on her. Instead, he stumbled backwards a step gasping for breath for a moment. But in some situations a moment was much too long a period of time. Beth hadn't really noticed the dark figures which were now moving toward them with superhuman speed and moved out of their way only by reflex. It was equally difficult for her to follow their movements as they leaped at her attacker and his companion. Only the strange, nauseating noises of breaking vertebras which assailed her ears within seconds told her that the two men had just taken her last breath. She winced violently as in the next moment the face of one of her saviors appeared just before her eyes and a hand roughly grabbed her arm.

"Let's go," the vampire growled at her and then moved so quickly with her that she stumbled a few times before she was gripped and pushed through the opened back doors into the interior of the van. Two other vampires jumped agilely into the car and quickly closed the doors behind them. For a moment it got almost too dark around her and again fear welled up in Beth. What if these vampires were not really sent by Josef and instead had their own plans for her? Or what if they belonged to the _Legion_? There were renegades in every war.

With trepidation she felt the van start to move, first backwards and then it drove forwards with screeching tires. Now it was too late anyway.

Beth swallowed hard and furtively examined the faces of the three men who sat opposite her on the bench. Now that her eyes became accustomed to the darkness she could see them better. As she thought about it the three actually looked quite familiar to her. Weren't they the men who had helped Josef and her to free Mick? Then Max had to be one of them. Yes, the grim looking guy with the square chin and the narrow eyes who now reached into the pocket of his jacket to get the cell phone out that had just begun to hum.

"Yes," he answered briefly, and then listened silently to what the caller had to tell him. "Yes, but it was close... yes, wait ..."

He leaned forward a bit and held out the phone to her, raising his brows encouragingly.

Beth's heart made a little, joyful leap and she grabbed it quickly.

"Josef?" She asked hopefully.

"Are you all right?" It was indeed her friend! She thought for a moment that she had never heard a more beautiful voice. She was saved! She was really safe!

"Beth?" In contrast to her Josef still seemed to be quite worried.

"Yes ... yes, nothing happened to me," she said with a deep sigh and fought against the tears that were filling her eyes against her will. "I ... I ..." She swallowed hard. "I'm so sorry. I'll never do anything like that again! I promise! No, I swear it!"

Now she could hear a sigh at the other end of the line. "You'll never have that chance again," Josef replied. "Even if I myself have to stick by your side for the next few days you won't take another step without having previously discussed it with me! Is that clear?"  
"Yes, of course ... I ..." She paused puzzled. "Does that mean I will be back with you?" She could do nothing about it as her heart began beating like mad again, so loudly that she could hear it echoing in her ears.

"I can hardly let you stay in LA any longer now that the Legion has noticed that you're there," Josef grumbled and in Beth's belly spread such strong feelings of joy that she felt as if a swarm of hornets would hum through her insides and cause her whole body to vibrate. As much as she liked Simone, her longing for her friends and especially for Mick had become so strong during the short time she had spent in LA that she couldn't endure it much longer.

"But don't delude yourself that we are through with this topic," Josef, who seemed to feel her joy through the phone, warned her. "When you arrive we'll discuss this again!"

"Of course," Beth said with understanding while a happy smile crept unintentionally onto her lips. It was probably a good thing that Josef could not see her.

"Well... Max will take you to one of our hiding places in LA which should be pretty safe," Josef went on. "But we're not able to fly you out until tomorrow. The Legion will now certainly be very vigilant and I just don't want to take the risk that they might be on our heels. They certainly must have a few helicopters of their own. And Beth... I demand that you obey whatever Max tells you to do! I don't want to call again and find out that you've done something stupid just as Mick has feared."

"Mick? Has... has he been able to really talk to you?" Beth exclaimed excitedly and once again her heart skipped a beat. She could hardly believe this.

"Mick can now do a lot of things we have discovered," Josef said in a less than happy tone. "And not all can be assessed as positive. But I'm not sure he will be delighted when you show up here again tomorrow. At the moment he considers himself as the greatest danger of all and will probably try to avoid any contact with you. You had better prepare yourself for that. Don't be too delighted to return to us."

Josef's words didn't surprise Beth particularly. She knew Mick too well to expect anything else from him but even the prospect of exhausting struggles and discussions could not diminish her excitement. If Mick was already strong enough to tangle with a person like Josef or her, this was actually quite wonderful. It proved that he really seemed to be recovering, thus it was more a cause for rejoicing than for worrying. No matter what happened, at this moment only one thing mattered to her: She was allowed to come back again - back home. Because her home was where her heart was. With Mick.


	26. A reason to live

_* Hi again to all of you! Here's the next chapter like I promised. Just loved your reviews and it's great to see that you all keep on reading this story so enthusiastically! You're just great! Think I'll post the next chapter again at Thurday! Best wishes, Jenna*_

_P.S. Morgana and Francis, I thank you so much for the translation and the beta reading! Feel hugged my dears!_

* * *

**A reason to live**

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"_**The willow knows what the storm doesn't know: that the power to endure suffering, survives the power to inflict it."**_

_**(Author unknown)**_

* * *

"_I don't think so!"_

"_But you should… "_

"_You know Harry S. Truman personally?" Mick uttered an incredulous laugh, shaking his head. __"How did that happen?"_

"_We have mutual friends and played golf together once," I said calmly, while the young man looked at me fascinated and again shook his head with a little laugh. Then he turned back to his whiskey glass and took a big gulp. If I counted right, it was the third and my counterpart was much more hard-drinking __than I had assumed earlier. Only his increased talkativeness showed that the alcohol in his blood had a certain effect on his mind._

_We had been around now for several hours in this wonderfully simple club in a district of LA that was visited only very rarely by the white upper class. From the jukebox boomed the wonderfully wicked music of the black working class and on the dance floor in the middle of the small but decent bar swayed an entangled dark-skinned couple to the beat of the music. Also the rest of the few nocturnal visitors, apart from Mick's companions, who sat across from the bar with Sam at one of the many round tables and were now engrossed in a professional conversation about music, were almost exclusively African-American compatriots. First I'd gotten skeptical looks when I had entered the club but as I had been in my new friend's company and they seemed to be regulars, nobody had troubled me._

"_How is it, the life among the high society?" Mick asked interested as he turned to me again._

_It was amazing, but even after a long time my interest in talking with him hadn't flagged. Even topics that I otherwise would have actually considered to be boring were very inspiring in conversation with him. I'd soon found out, that he was not a man who went with the flow, and therefore he had really his own opinion on any subject, which was strongly represented and well-founded. And he really was as honest and entertaining as I had remembered him._

"_That's a good question," I finally replied and for an instant looked at the ceiling. "I would like to say: always exciting and wonderful, but that wouldn't be the truth."_

_Mick nodded with a light smile on his lips and then __finally took a drag on the barely__ existing cigarette he had held between his fingers for quite a while now but never touched it._

"_Do I have to understand that?" I asked with a short pointer to the cigarette._

_Mick's smile became an embarrassed grin. __"I'm trying to quit smoking," he said seemingly amused by himself. "I force myself to let it burn, at least for a while, before I touch it, because I somehow don't really get out of the habit…" __He gave me a quizzical look. "Doesn't make much sense, does it?" _

_I shrugged my shoulders. "In a certain, even absurd way it does…"_

_Mick laughed again and __took another drag of carcinogenic vapors into his poor lungs._

"_And where does the change come from?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. __"From Coraline?"_

"_No," he said, and pushed the rest of the fag-end into the ashtray on the counter. "I've just realized that life is too fragile and short to indulge in some senseless addictions. For a time I needed it, but now…" He shook his head and winced violently when somewhere in a corner a glass noisily went to the floor and shattered into a thousand pieces. This was the second time during our nocturnal meeting that he so intensely responded to a loud noise and in my head slowly formed a thought._

"_When have you been there?" I asked, and the stunned look in his eyes told me that I was right in my assumption: I had a war-traumatized person in front of me._

"_I was a medic from 1942 to 1945, in Italy and Belgium, yes," he admitted and again had to take a sip from his drink. "It's a long time ago…," he added thoughtfully._

"_Why?" I asked, genuinely interested. "You weren't forced to go there and gamble with your life. Europe is far away and I think here it would have been much better for you."_

_Mick avoided my gaze and stared into his half emptied glass instead. "This had a number of reasons," he muttered evasively. "And I wanted to… do something… help somehow and not sit around uselessly at home, while others gave their lives for the freedom of Europe. __I was young and a little naive…"_

"_And why a paramedic?" I asked._

_Mick made a sound that was not really a laugh, but once again carried some amusement in itself. "I've studied medicine before the war came and after that I finally felt called to become a musician," he told me with half a smile and looked at me again. "When you come from a family like mine, you have no other choice but to learn something proper."_

_The way he accentuated the word „proper" told me clearly that he didn't have such a well working relationship with his parents, too._

"_That means?" I probed with a smile._

"_Become a doctor or lawyer if you don't do it exactly like my brother and become a pilot in the Air Force." He cheered to me and downed the remaining whiskey with a quick movement. Then he loudly slammed the glass back on the table and breathed in deeply. "Well, now my brother is dead and I'm a musician - my poor parents must have done something wrong…"_

"_He's dead?" I'd never been a man who for other persons sake evaded tough questions and issues that were associated with violent emotions. For that__ I was just too curious. __Mick had to get used to it if he wanted to be my friend… My _friend_? My own thoughts slowly began to really confuse me._

_Mick looked at me thoughtfully for a moment then nodded. Either it was the alcohol or he felt safe and comfortable enough in my presence to open the door to his private domain astonishingly far._

"_He crashed a decade ago during a training flight over the desert in Nevada," he said. "My parents still haven't gotten over his death…"_

"_And you?" My God, this question was almost too intimate to me!_

_He turned his eyes away from me and stared again at his now empty glass. "I don't know," he admitted with a light shrug. "I think I've seen so much in the recent years that I've no real desire to deal with this issue and my possible subliminal feelings. Sometimes displacement is the best therapy."_

_There we had the same opinion. __"Seems as if your life hasn't been boring at all," I said. '__And it will soon be even more exciting when you do not flee in time and free yourself from the claws of Coraline!' _

"_And why didn't you finish your studies after the war?" I asked, not showing what I was really thinking. "As a doctor you would earn much more money."_

"_That wasn't _my_ dream. __It was my father's," he replied, and gave a nod to the bartender to refill his glass again. Slowly I began to worry if maybe my choice of topic was to blame that he gradually went over to get really drunk. "Besides, I've lived through so much pain and suffering, had to watch so many people die that it's enough for the rest of my life. I simply cannot see any blood anymore, and if I'm lucky, I probably won't."_

_This time it was me who had to look quickly in another direction. __So much about Coraline and vampirism. __If she could persuade this man to freely become a creature which fed exclusively on blood, I was ready to build her a small altar. _

"_Well a musician can cut his finger too," I joked and Mick responded with a small smile. "Unless he is so successful that he can afford employees who do even the smallest of work for him," I added and spoke indeed of myself._

"_Oh, I'm far away from that," he laughed. __"I'm an absolute average musician."_

"_An average musician who's soon going to marry a very rich woman," I tried to cheer him up and Mick immediately rewarded me with a warm smile._

"_A rich _and_ beautiful woman," he added, but could not really get rid of the slightly melancholic look in his eyes._

'_Which will soon turn you in something really special', I added inwardly and wondered about the strange feeling of anticipation which suddenly wanted to rise in me. __Slowly I began to behave really strange. __But it was comforting that I was the only one who noticed this._

"_Honestly," Mick continued seriously, "it doesn't matter. __I would have even fallen in love with her if she hadn't been rich. __If I'm honest, it even bothers me a little bit."_

_I frowned. How could someone feel disturbed by money and luxury?_

"_Somehow the people around her don't seem sympathetic to me and sometimes they're even suspicious," he continued. "Some people have such a strange aura… As if they are not really from this planet."_

'_Because most of them are vampires, kid.' But it was amazing that he had noticed all this so quickly. It spoke for a sensory perception and a very alert mind. Dangerous for us, if Coraline failed with her plan - as well as appealing to me._

"_Like me?" I asked him, smiling friendly._

_Mick's a little bit tired looking eyes wandered briefly down my body and back up. __"Yes, if I'm honest, the first time we met I thought you're a little… strange. It wasn't __your behavior, but…" He shrugged. "I don't know…"_

_Ah, now the alcohol began to affect his mind a little bit more._

"_Quite apart from that I have thought you were a pretty pompous jerk," he confessed with a laugh. __"Anyway, at the beginning."_

"_Oh, I_ am_," I admitted with a grin, and I really could not be angry with him. His openness and naturalness were quite irresistible - especially combined with that warm laugh. "Anyway, at the beginning…," I added with a wink._

_He laughed again and put his hand comradely on my shoulder. I was not a fan of touches, but even that didn't bother me the least about him._

"_No, I was wrong," he confessed, and let the hand fall again to take his newly filled glass. "You're pretty okay for a rich snob."_

_I raised my glass, too._

"_Cheers to the rich snobs," he said, grinning._

"_Cheers to the unsuccessful musicians," I said and we __clinked glasses cheerfully._

_We each took a generous sip and set down our glasses at the same time. The next second Mick had raised his finger again._

"_This leads me back to my earlier question, which you dodged so wonderfully," he reminded me, and slowly an easy slur was noticeable in his voice. __"Your life among the high society…"_

"_There's not much to tell," I lied. __"Glittering nightlife, beautiful women, luxury mansions, sleek cars - just the usual boring stuff…"_

_Of course, I tried to hide my real opinion through jokes, but my lack of emotion on this issue had not escaped him, despite his high blood alcohol level._

"_Must be hard in your situation to distinguish real friends from parasites," he commented and hit just the recurring escrow issue of my life: the feeling of loneliness that I tried to oust usually as well as possible, but that came back in silent moments with such force that I sometimes had the feeling it could shatter me. __It was sad, but you could also feel alone in the middle of a lot of people. __Loneliness had many faces… and it was almost worse to feel lonely among people, than somewhere out in the wilderness._

"_Friendship is an elastic term," I replied honestly. "And I think that in the circles in which I move, it still gets quite different dimensions."_

"_Probably the loneliness, too," Mick stated as if he had just read my thoughts and I nodded, even if didn't really want to._

"_So, wealth is not necessarily the key to happiness," he summed up for himself._

"_Does it exist?" I interjected. __"The key to happiness?"_

"_It all depends on how you define happiness," was the cautious answer, and I realized that we slid seamlessly into the realm of philosophy - usually a conversation area that I avoided with strangers. Very few people in my circles were intelligent and articulate enough to be able to compete in a discussion within this difficult issue with me. With Mick the whole thing could become very interesting, I was sure._

"_What does it mean to you?" I asked, wondering at the same time whether it was fair to test his competence in the subject, after he had himself filled __up so much with whiskey._

_Mick thoughtfully furrowed his brows. "I think 'happiness' is just like the word 'love' a quite strained term," he said. "How fast people state to be happy or to love someone…"_

"_It has made me happy to push this guy in the 'White Doves'," I grinned._

"_See?" said Mick returning my grin. "It can go that fast. __The only question is if this is really the truth."_

_Again I mentally conjured up the red face of Freddy a__nd then nodded. "I think so."_

_Mick laughed. __"But often it's not the case," he continued. __"I think many people do not even know anymore how it feels to be happy and especially how limited in time this state is. Properly speaking, you really can not say that you are living a happy life. __Happiness never lasts long."_

"_And what shall we say then?" I asked expectantly._

"_I think it's wonderful if you are in a position to say with conviction that you are contented."_

"_Contented?" I raised my eyebrows skeptically. __"That sounds so… so average."_

"_In fact it is. But it feels good."_

"_In other words, you feel so currently?"_

_Mick thought about it once more and then smiled. __"Yes, I think so."_

_I tilted my head and looked at him broodingly for a long moment. Mick was right with what he said. I had given up long ago to be happy, because I - like him – had realized that the perfect life, absolute happiness didn't exist and you basically just had to strive for enjoying the present, the instant in which you live__. __And there was hardly any better feeling than that of deepest satisfaction - something I still experienced far too rarely. But that such a young man came to such a thought so early in his life was really amazing._

"_And?" I finally had to ask because __I was really interested in that. __"What's your secret recipe?"_

_Again, he took time to sort his thoughts before he spoke. "To take life as it comes, and not to stumble about every stone that's getting laid in your way. To fight, once it becomes harder, and especially in the bad times looking for the positive sides of life, for the many little things that make life truly worth living, which can help you to find your way back to a better, contented life…"_

"_For example?"_

"_The rays of the sun that can warm you even if you feel so cold inside,… another person's honest smile… good food - you should try the ribs at Musso's some day…"_

"_A delicious, warming drink," I added, once again putting my glass to my lips._

"_A walk on the beach when the sun is setting…"_

_Mick's examples were truly inspiring, even for such an old vampire like me and made me unusually creative._

"_A ride in a cabriolet through LA by night…"_

"_Ice cream, melting on your tongue…"_

'_Blood, fresh from the vein,' I wanted to say, but decided rather for: " The transaction of a profitable business…"_

"_A good friend's warm embrace…," Mick put up against it._

"_The hot kiss of a hot-blooded woman…"_

"… _Sex…"_

"_Sex with a beautiful woman," I knew better._

_Now Mick shook his head, smiling dreamily. "Sex with a woman who really loves you the way you are…"_

_I raised an eyebrow questioningly. __"Are you talking about Coraline?" I asked, and I was really not sure. __Coraline and true love? For me difficult to imagine…_

_To my surprise, Mick seemed to have problems with that, as well. __"At least I hope so," he said and stared into his glass._

"_You're not really sure about that and you want to get married anyway?" I probed in astonishment.__  
__ "__Yes," he admitted frankly. __"Because I love her. __I… I love her so much that it's enough for both of us, even if she maybe feels not exactly the same way I do…" He paused and furrowed his brows a bit, thinking of his own words again. __"That… that's nonsense," he noted angrily and I just had to nod. __A man like him didn't need to sell himself cheap._

"_She should love me, and she should let me know that, too." Then he nodded, raised his glass, emptied it__ in one gulp and slammed it back on the counter. "Let's go," he added, looking at me invitingly. __"We're going to ask her!"_

_I moved automatically a little away from him and looked at him with raised brows and a slight shock shown in my eyes. "Now?" I asked with a half laugh. However, he nodded gravely and I wondered whether this 'terrific' idea only arose from the excessive amount of alcohol in his blood or if he also came to such crazy ideas in a sober state. Conceivable was both._

_He didn't even bother to answer my question, but simply got up. For a brief moment, he really gave the impression as if the alcohol hadn't incapacitated him physically…only for a brief moment, because just seconds later his upper body was unwillingly moving so clearly aside that only due to my extreme rapidity I was able to grasp his shirt just in time to save him __from a nasty fall._

"_Oops-a-daisy," he uttered amused and quickly grabbed the counter to better be able to__stabilize himself. "That was probably a drink too much."_

_Apparently his speech was able to take a lot more than his other bodily functions. He screwed up his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. "Maybe we should just walk a little," he suggested when he had opened his eyes again and I nodded in agreement._

"_I think this is one of your best ideas this evening," I added and reluctantly let him go again. Mick pulled out a couple of dollar bills from his pocket and laid them on the counter, making clear to me with a stern look that I shouldn't dare to invite him. Then he said good-bye to his friends and began to move carefully and a little bit unsteadily toward the exit._

_We in fact reached the street without any further problems and for a moment I drank in the fresh air. The smoke in the bar was nothing for the sensitive senses of a vampire. Out here in the cool night air, I felt a whole lot better. The air smelled of rain and the sky had clouded over with dark, heavy clouds, which dimmed the light of the full moon and created an almost dark, eerie atmosphere the feeble lights of the street lamps could hardly oppose. It was a night for the creatures of darkness, a night for vampires… but apparently also for people like Mick, because when I looked at him, he had closed his eyes with relish and held his heated face into the cool breeze which wafted towards us in this moment and brought the first drops of rain along. He took a deep breath and a satisfied smile appeared on his lips. I found myself staring at him for a while, taking in deeply this enormous joy in life that he exuded. Being together with him was somehow so… invigorating. I felt suddenly much younger and fresher and could almost forget that I carried the burden of several centuries of life around with me. And suddenly I understood why Coraline so urgently wanted to have him at her side, wanted to make him her life partner, and I felt envy grabbing me for the first time in a long while. No, I was even damn jealous! I wanted what she wanted to take. Wanted to make him a part of _my_ life and it was really hard for me to push that sudden impulse back again._

"_Can you smell that?" my new friend yanked me from my thoughts._

"_The rain?" I asked. __'I am a vampire, boy. __I smell much more than you know. __Above all, the precious blood that runs through your veins, so virginal and untouched.' What a tempting thought to taste it before Coraline could do it. My eyes were riveted on his neck involuntarily. He was so close that I could hear all too clearly the rhythmic beat of his heart, and I had to really pull myself together to not give in to my favorite activity now. _

"_No. Life," Mick said, not aware of the danger hovering over him all of a sudden. "Life in its most raw, energetic form."_

_As if to emphasize his words I heard a loud bang just above us. Only a few seconds later the glare of lightning lit up the street in front of us and the first raindrops started to wet the road._

"_It has to feel exactly like this!" Mick laughed keenly and stepped into the middle of the road, while the now__ quite big droplets rained down on us in an increasing beat. The cool wet brought a little clarity in my fogged mind and I withdrew a bit to find a reasonably sheltered spot under a little awning of a restaurant. I contended myself with observing the joy and lust for living Mick exposed himself with to the rain, which was now hailing down on him in sheer torrents__. __There he stood in the middle of the road, stretched out his arms and lifted his face against the force of nature with closed eyes, totally fearless and relaxed as if there was nothing more natural and better than to dance through the rain between lightning and thunder._

_Suddenly it hit me that Mick had been serious with each of his words and much more: not only was he pleased with his life, he enjoyed it, enjoyed his mortality, enjoyed everything that made up this short life. And just this life I would destroy if I turned him into a vampire. I couldn't do it, because I was not sure if I would destroy him with this, if I would destroy what made him so interesting to vampires like me and Coraline: his vitality, his soulfulness, his passion… I didn't want to be guilty of that. __I knew that Coraline thought otherwise. __She was more selfish, more an egomaniac than I was. __She would get what she wanted, no matter what Mick thought about it. __He had no choice with that woman at his side. __But I wouldn't warn him, for this other thought deep in my subconscious mind was too strong, kept me from interfering in this matter - the thought that Mick, if he got over the loss of his human life, could be a tremendous asset to the vampire society and __especially for my life. __Coraline would turn him, but in the end it was quite possible that another person could be the beneficiary of this whole drama: Me. And that thought brought a bittersweet smile on my lips, when I followed Mick's example now and stepped out into the rain, concentrating all my senses on the power of nature around us and enjoying the feeling of loneliness finally lifting from my soul after such a long time._

* * *

Isolation was something awful – not for nothing people still were tortured with solitary confinement just to break them, because everyone, even if he sometimes resists, needs the contact with other people, needs the exchange, the voices, the touch of other people. Even a person like me, who trusts only a few others and receives most of the contacts more out of compulsion than by choice, cannot really bear it to feel alone and invites rather a few willing freshies to a small blood-donating-party than to expose himself to this unpleasant feeling of loneliness.

Mick, however, actually managed the rare feat to completely isolate himself in his traumatized, depressed state, after all this time in enforced solitary confinement. As I had suspected the incident happening the evening before had upset him more than anyone else in this house and caused him to not let any other person get near the next morning. He himself only came out of his room when he had to satisfy his basic needs.

At first I had thought it would be prudent to let him have his will for a while and not to push him to talk about everything again - only because I knew that he would get terribly worked up early enough, at the latest when Beth came back on the scene. Even if his isolation was not good for his soul - it would help his stressed body to get at least a bit of rest for a limited period of time. Quite apart from that, I was already so busy to organize so many things that it was indeed useful not to have to deal with Mick additionally.

Logan and I had sat together again to talk about the future strategy concerning the _Legion_. He was now sitting in the basement with Peterson and tried hard to find the people the doctor was describing. And then there was also the difficult task 'Getting Beth back here' that I had to take care of. Max had been able to bring Beth into a safe hidden place and then he had laid a couple of false trails for the _Legion_, so that she really had been safe in the night. Her yearning for Mick seemed to be so strong that she suddenly could cooperate with everyone wonderfully and followed every instruction given to her. The same night, I together with Max and Simone had carefully planned how to bring Beth inconspicuously to the helicopter, but a few little things had to be done today, too, so I was pretty busy in the morning.

But when Mick, in the late hours of the afternoon, like a shadow of his former self was still flitting through the hall or into the kitchen only to disappear again as quickly as possible, I decided to stop him just at his next appearance and to force him to deal with me and the events of yesterday for a few minutes. I did not want to disturb him in his room, because I knew that I would harass him with it and just put him under considerable stress. So I sat on my uncomfortable 'favorite' couch in the living room with a deathly boring book about reptiles in Mexico in my hand and waited ... and waited…. and waited.

My thoughts soon went their own ways and wandered back into the past. I remembered some things Mick had said sometimes during our long time together, losses he had suffered, emotional pain he had been forced to bear and increasingly, and more and more clearly a thought emerged from deep inside of me, a realization that gave me new hope that perhaps at the right time everything would be all right again: Mick was actually a pro when it came to processing traumas, when it was about dealing with pain and anxieties. When you had passed through such a wild life as he had to, then you slowly began to learn how to deal with extreme situations, you develop strategies to cope with all the emotional stress that accompanies such situations. And Mick had always been so successful with that that he had always found his way back into a normal life quite quickly. Of course, his present situation was more extreme than any other before, but the most important thing he lacked this time was the will and strength to switch on the self-helping mechanisms inside him that he needed to find back his way into life. However, I was sure that it only needed a little impulse, a small jolt... Mick needed a reason why he absolutely wanted to become healthy again, _wanted_ to go on living. And this I would give him back today if he wanted to or not.

I lifted my head a little bit when I heard footsteps from the hallway and noticed a few seconds later with delight that Mick had now at last become thirsty or hungry, for he continued to have that terribly depressed facial expression as he appeared in the living room. He gave me a quick nod to show he had noticed me and then moved toward the kitchen area.

I stretched a little, to loosen at least my muscles for the upcoming battle - the knot in my stomach was not resolved so easily - and then I got up very calmly, walked over to my friend, who sucked in a full liter of water with greedy gulps. His eyes wandered suspiciously over to me as he drank, but I simply threw a friendly smile at him.

"If you just stay a little longer here in this room and keep me company, you would have unlimited access to this never-ending source of heavenly refreshment," I said, "and you wouldn't have to pour the water in bucketfuls into yourself all four hours like a man dying of thirst, who has found an oasis in the middle of the desert."

Mick put the bottle, which was now completely emptied, down and once took a deep breath.  
"Very poetically, Josef," he said simply and put the bottle onto the shelf. "What have you fiddled with today? Reading historical romance novels?"

I'd exacerbated him - how wonderful! Anger was always better than depression.

"No, sorry," I replied with a sad sigh. „Someone has taken these beautiful pulp novels up to his room and now I have to deal with a book about the mating behavior of lizards."

"When I've finished _Knight of the heart_, I'll hand it over to you," Mick jumped at my assumption almost like in old times and that really surprised me. So many hours of peace and solitude were probably even too much for the evil monster he thought he was. The need for human or rather vampire society was too strong to continue to suppress it. I could read this in his eyes and I was really glad about it.

"By all means," I smirked and also on Mick's lips appeared a lop-sided smile. But as soon as it came, it disappeared again. He took a deep breath again and I knew this time it was something serious, something that was incriminating him deeply because the lively sparkling in his eyes vanished at once.

"Listen, I ..." Another heavy breath followed the first one. "About what happened yesterday... I didn't want that ..."

"I know that. It ... it was inevitable," I interrupted him, but he shook his head impatiently.

"Such things are not _allowed_ to happen, Josef," he said, with a much firmer voice. "I don't want anybody to get hurt because I don't have myself under control. Above all, I don't want something to happen to_ you_! I couldn't bear this..."

I didn't know how to react to that. It was rare that we talked about our feelings for each other. We usually felt not very comfortable with that and didn't quite know how to handle it. Like now...

Mick had lowered his gaze for a moment but now looked at me again. "I don't know exactly what was wrong with me. Something was so different but... that doesn't change the fact that I am a danger to everyone if I can walk freely around here ..."

"Oh, no, no," I burst out indignantly, because I immediately knew what he was getting at. "I certainly do not lock or chain you up!"

"But ..."

"No _but_!" Now I glared at him furiously, clearly sensing that his temper was boiling up in him. "I will not allow that anyone here will lock you up - not even when you want it yourself, Mick! We get it under control, without chains and iron bars or drugs ..."

Mick gave me an incredulous laugh. "Josef, I doubt that there is even one person in this house I haven't attacked yet ... Do I need to kill someone so that you finally understand how dangerous this ... this thing in me is?"

I uttered an angry snort and had really to control myself not to yell at Mick. "Logan and Seth," I brought out tensely. "So much for the first point. And secondly: Do not even dare to call the vampire in you a... a thing, because that doesn't only insult you but also every other vampires in this house ..."

"You're nothing like me," it burst out of Mick with such an aversion to himself that a cold shiver ran down my spine. "Look at me, Josef ... I'm not a real human, nor a normal vampire. I'm a… a freak, who is not even able control himself!"

I stared at him in bewilderment. Also in the past Mick had spoken disparagingly of his vampire side, but I had never had the impression that he despised himself in such an extreme degree.

"You're not a freak," I said very much quieter. "But how can I prove to you the opposite, if you absolutely _want _to see yourself that way. You've always been such a terrible pighead…"

"I _want_ to see myself this way?" Mick flared up as expected. "Josef ... I ... I _am_ like that! You've always been there and seen it yourself…"

"Yes, and I could understand you - every time!" I interrupted him harshly. "Your behavior always had a reason, a warrant - every time! Of course you react extremely, but it's less than a week ago that you cheated death. You had to serve as a guinea pig for these malicious people the whole last year, you were isolated and helpless! Is it any wonder that you go wild under stress?! Start finally to understand yourself and forgive yourself that you don't own the powers of a superhero and cannot stand above all things. You're only human, Mick!"

I had to take a deep breath to go back down, but my little outburst had actually silenced my best friend. He just stared at me shocked and his eyes reflected the chaos of feelings which now seemed to rage inside him. There was anger, confusion and uncertainty, but to my great pleasure these feelings weren't by far the strongest, because they had made room to a feeling that Mick needed currently more urgently than any others: hope. He understood what I had tried to tell him, realized that his own perception perhaps was colored a little too negatively and he started to hope that I was right, that maybe he really had a chance to become again the man he had been once.

"We'll get it under control, Mick," I repeated my earlier spoken words and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You only have to give us a chance ... and enough time."

And the miracle happened: Although Mick's cheek muscles twitched with tension he nodded slowly.

"But you should still have the drugs on hand," he said softly after a while.

"Of course," I replied calmly. "I believe sometimes every now and then I could need them, too."

Mick wanted to smile, but he did not succeed very well. Somehow I had the feeling that he wanted to get rid of something else. His eyes stuck to the tiles of the kitchen, but he looked as if something drove him to articulate a thought that had tortured him for a long time.

"It's somehow strange," he brought out very quietly. "When Coraline told me about the cure and the experiments they did with some people, I ... I didn't waste a second thought about what they did to them. I even wanted her to resume the research ..." His eyes searched mine and I did my best to hold the gaze, even though I suddenly felt no longer that comfortable. I had not expected that Mick suddenly began to talk about what had happened to him, and I felt slightly overcharged. What if he got another attack because all that upset him too much? At the moment I was alone with him ...

"What ... what do you mean?" I asked still bravely. "That you've deserved it that the same thing has happened to you?"

Mick didn't nod, but he didn't deny it either. "I was so obsessed by the idea to become a human again... I just wonder sometimes…" He trailed off, but somehow I suddenly knew what he was thinking and could finish his sentence: "... if you had volunteered for the experiments of your own accord, in case they had made it palatable enough to you?"

Mick's eyes went back to the ground and I knew I was right. It was a legitimate question, but I was just as unable to answer it as Mick himself. On the one hand at this time Mick would have done anything to be together with Beth in a normal way, but on the other hand he was not the type of person who delivered himself up to other people's power and caprice and switched off his own mind and will.

The roaring of a fairly heavy machine from not so far away ripped us both out of our thoughts. I knew immediately what it was but Mick looked at me, frowning.

"The helicopter," I said and tried to dissemble that I got a little bit nervous at the thought whom the helicopter would bring along. Mick had calmed down so well now...

"He brings a few things that we desperately need," I went on.

"Let me guess: other spare clothes?" His gaze roamed briefly from my freshly patched jeans over my 'beautiful' gray-blue-plaid cotton shirt and instantly the small smile from earlier was back. I would have really enjoyed it, if there had not been the slightly mocking line around his lips I was actually a little annoyed about. My clothing was currently simply a sensitive subject.

"And food," I added.

Mick nodded understandingly.

"And Beth." It went off my lips much easier than I had expected.

Mick's smile disappeared instantly. "What?"

Yet he was far away from 'angry' but looked more like 'I must have misheard that' and did not take my words serious.

"I had to find that she is less endangered with us here than anywhere else in this world," I said quietly.

Mick blinked a few times, in hope he was just exposed to a hallucination. "Please ... please, _what_?" he stammered.

I took a deep breath. "Beth is sitting in that helicopter," I said now very clearly. "She's touching down in front of our house at this moment ...," the noises from outside confirmed my words, "and will then come through that door." I pointed to the door, but Mick's eyes remained fixated on my face in disbelief.

"And she's going to stay," I added firmly. "No matter what you say about this."

Mick's mind seemed to pick up pace again, because he started to gasp for air. "You ... you cannot be serious about that!" he called furiously. "Not after what happened last night!"

"Unfortunately I have to disappoint you," I replied calmly. "I am totally serious!"

"This ... this ..." Mick was at a loss for words, and also the loss of his temper was near. He had to turn away from me, took a few senseless steps into an uncertain direction and then turned around to me again, shaking his head visibly upset. "You ... you've seen what I'm capable of!" he yelled at me now. "How... how can you permit her to come back here? What's wrong with you?!"

I didn't respond to his questions, but he indeed hadn't really bargained for it.

"It's up to you to risk your own life, Josef!" he snarled at me. "But this is about Beth! Do you really care that little for her life?"

Well. I couldn't leave it that way, the words were just too painful.

"No, I don't," I replied, now with slightly raised voice. "But I'm here as well and able to protect her. And you'll do nothing to her…"

He let out an angry laugh. "Oh, yeah? Just like the other times when I did 'nothing' to her?"

"Exactly," I growled back. "She gave her blood to you voluntarily, man! You didn't just bite her. You could control yourself. She is the living proof that you're not the uncontrolled monster you think you are!"

"You have absolutely no idea!" Mick's anger grew steadily and his voice almost cracked.  
"For sure I have!" I put up some resistance. "I'm also a vampire!"

"But you ... you're not _me_!" Mick yelled almost desperately. "You're not in my skin!"  
Then the door opened and Beth stood in the entrance, recovered, with rosy cheeks, a little breathless but enchantingly beautiful with her eyes shining with excitement and the blond curls playing around her face. And somehow I felt a wave of relief wash over me as a deep feeling inside me told me that I couldn't have made a better choice than to get her back here. Right now - at this point in time.

Mick had immediately turned into stone next to me and I felt almost physically his anger blow away at the sight of her and any clear thought got overlaid with his deep love and his extreme longing for her. Knocked out in the first round.

"Hi," she uttered very quietly and looked just as mesmerized as my breathless friend. I no longer existed for the two. All of a sudden they were on a different plane out of every mundane sphere in which there was nothing else but them and their deep feelings for each other. If now in this world both rushed up to each other and embraced each other, the starting shot for the project 'bring Mick back into life' would finally fall. But of course my dear friend didn't want to do me that favor. Somehow his diabolical self-doubts were able to come back during these key seconds by some small back door and destroyed the magical moment cruelly. In this case the 'back door' was Logan, who rushed into the room with agitation and called for me.

Mick winced violently, looked briefly at Logan, then at Beth again, shook his head and rushed so quickly past me and out of the room that I didn't even have the time to think about whether I should stop him or not.


	27. A little more confidence

_*__And again a new chapter at Thursday! Hip, hip, hooray! That's just because I have now such a great team. There are so many people now who are helping me with the translation and a few hard-working beta readers with Jo leading the way, who are responsible for the quick updates. I thank you all so much and also the readers who are giving me such a great feedback here! And now I wish you much fun with the next chapter, that Moonlightie translated and Jo edited. Best wishes, yours Jenna! Hope to see you at Sunday again * _

* * *

**A**** little more confidence**

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"_Even if confidence and vitality sometimes appear to be as small as dwarfs: they are sleeping giants which we can rouse."_

_(Jochen Mariss)_

* * *

Beth had intended to stay calm and to approach everything with the necessary ease and patience she would need to put her plan into action regarding Mick's slow moving recovery. This plan she had conceived and elaborated upon the previous night in her less than comfortable hideout in an office of an abandoned factory building, after she'd had a long and enlightening talk with Simone. The young lawyer had arrived only a few hours after her to give her some important things for Josef, among them a suitcase with clothes and a bag with bottles of blood.

Simone had advised her to be very reasonable and cooperative towards Josef. Not because she was afraid that otherwise he would get the idea to take Beth somewhere else, but because she felt sorry for her boyfriend and worried he would have a nervous breakdown if he was exposed to so much stress for much longer. Up to this point it hadn't occurred to Beth that because of the separation from Josef Simone probably had a similar experience as she did and was not only missing him but was also worried about him because of the _Legion_. They had begun to talk about their difficult relationships with the men they loved and had gone past this issue to the softer side of men, and had finally spoken about Mick's actual condition. As Beth had assumed, Josef hadn't actually informed Beth about everything that had happened. Simone, however, was more than willing to talk with her about all of it, because, as she said, she liked Beth a lot. So now Beth knew that Mick was recovering physically but as Peterson had predicted he was having emotional problems. Apart from that, Mick himself didn't seem very anxious to make progress as he wasn't eating or sleeping properly and hadn't left the house a single time. Thus Beth had decided to change all that as soon as possible with a plan that was doomed to be met with resistance by Josef and especially by Mick. She knew this would happen and therefore had developed a well structured plan which was so brilliant that it just _had_ to work. That was the reason why she had slept relatively well during the night and had gotten into the van and then into the helicopter full of optimism and thirst for action.

But now that she could see the farmhouse beneath her through the window of the helicopter, this awful excitement, this tension that cramped all her muscles was back again and the throbbing of her heart rose in her chest. It wasn't that she felt queasy or was scared ... she was just terribly excited because she finally would see Mick again, knowing that he was no longer the powerless and helpless patient she had left five days earlier but rather could move normally and could speak again. Finally she could exchange thoughts with him and would know that he would be able to comprehend what she was saying to him.

Of course, she was prepared for him to push her away and to avoid her to protect her from himself. But still there was a small spark of hope that caused her to think that maybe his longing for her was enough that it would replace his fears and his apprehension concerning the vampire in him. That would certainly make everything so much easier.

The helicopter landed with a small jerk and Beth closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Suddenly she felt shaky and she feared that she wouldn't be able to get back on her feet if she didn't calm down a bit.

After a while Daniel turned toward her and pushed his sun glasses down his nose to give her a questioning glance. "Everything all right?" he yelled to her over the noise of the engine.

She quickly nodded, unbuckled her seat belt and took off the earmuffs that protected her hearing from the engine noise but also made it difficult to communicate with Daniel. "Will you remember to bring me those things when you come back the next time?!" she asked loudly with her most beautiful smile and the pilot quickly nodded.

"I promise," he called out to her and she lifted her thumb, beaming. Then she grabbed the two big bags and Simone's suitcase and climbed awkwardly out of the helicopter. Even though her baggage was relatively heavy and bulky she managed to quickly get out of the reach of the rotor blades. As she had done a few times in the past she congratulated herself that she wasn't a delicately built woman and not only possessed curves but also had muscles in her arms and legs earned through hard workouts.

The wind tore at her clothing raising dust and sand and she closed her eyes and mouth for a moment to not breathe any of it in as the helicopter took off behind her. But then the metal monstrosity took off and the wind calmed down and she stood alone in front of the old farmhouse. Now she heard what the loud roaring of the helicopter had hidden before: the loud voices of two men who were arguing with each other inside the house.

Beth knew both voices only too well and the calmness that had settled within her was chased away by an intense tenseness and nervousness as she moved more urgently toward the house.

"You have absolutely no idea!" she could hear Mick's voice clearly through the closed door as she approached and her heart made a small leap. She dropped her bags in front of the stairs of the porch and hurried upstairs without them.

"Yes I have! I'm also a vampire!" Josef was furious as well and Beth suddenly felt rather unsettled. Yet she quietly opened the screen door and bravely grasped the door handle of the inside door.

"But you ... you're not _me_! You're not in my skin!"

There was so much despair in Mick's voice that she courageously opened the door and entered.

Josef and Mick were in the kitchen space but their quarrel immediately died down at the sight of Beth. Actually Beth had intended to stroll into the living room quite calmly and to welcome the men with a happy "Hello!"

But to see Mick standing there more alive and stronger than she could have imagined and to meet his attentive and alarmingly agitated glance put her so off her stride that she just remained were she was with a wildly beating heart and the planned cool greeting turned into a pitiful "Hi".

He had changed over the past days. He looked healthier although the dark shadows beneath his eyes still pointed to the obvious fact that he wasn't getting enough sleep. And his hair seemed to have grown. It was darker and thicker and his facial hair had considerably increased which Beth thought suited him darn well. But it was primarily the warm, longing look in his eyes that caused Beth's self-control to melt like butter in the sun because it reflected so intensely her own feelings. This made her barely able to resist the impulse to toss her terrific plan over board and simply throw herself into his arms. She was almost sure that he wouldn't turn her away. Then Logan bolted into the living room and destroyed the magic between them with a painful jolt. They both broke eye contact, startled, and when she looked at Mick again she could see his fear returning. She saw him shaking his head and wanted to say something but was tongue-tied and could only watch him turn away from her and rush past a stunned Josef toward his room.

After only a few seconds Beth moved, determined to deal with him and his fears immediately but Josef stopped her and held her arm tightly.

"Let him go," he said decisively. "He has to be alone for a moment to digest that you're back."

"But ...," she began, but Josef didn't let her finish.

"I think you've forfeited your right to any further 'but' for quite a while with your operation of yesterday," he said with a fake smile. "I thought we had agreed that I'd make the decisions in the near future."

Beth looked at Josef. However, her thoughts were still too involved with Mick to really understand what Josef wanted from her. "Yes," she answered confused, "b..."

Josef's distinct sound of protest and his admonishingly raised index finger caused her to pause for a moment and in the next instant he pushed her to the couch and pressed her down.

"Uh… Josef," someone drawled from the doorway of the living room. Apparently Logan had remained there after Mick's reaction.

"I'll get to you later, don't worry!" Josef grumpily addressed the younger man over his shoulder as he settled across from Beth in a battered armchair.

"I'm ... I'll be downstairs then," Logan returned intimidated, but Josef already had forgotten him, so he turned and silently disappeared.

The vampire's eyes rested on Beth who began slowly to feel rather unsettled. For a while her friend only watched her thoughtfully then he bent forward and propped his elbows on his thighs.

"I was serious on the phone, Beth," he started. "I don't want you to do anything regarding Mick without having spoken to me first. I know that you already have some plans to pull Mick out of his self-imposed ordeal, but please let me in on them! Only then can I protect you, especially from yourself!"

Beth really wanted to nod with understanding but his choice of words only made her furrow her brows defiantly. "From myself?" she asked, although she knew exactly what he was hinting at.

"Do you have any idea just how close this was?" He glanced at her sternly with an undertone of the rage he must have felt yesterday resonating in his voice. "Not only for you, but for all of us!"

Guiltily she dropped her gaze staring at his expensive shoes. Despite the exertion they had endured up until now they still stood out in blatant contrast to his otherwise plain, almost unsophisticated clothes. She wondered where he had gotten them.

Josef took a deep breath and leaned back in his armchair. "Can you at least give me a reason why you felt you had to meet Talbot especially since I explicitly forbade you to leave your hotel room?"

She looked back up and took a deep breath. "I remembered a few things Mick told me shortly before he disappeared. It had to do with Talbot and a certain politician and I... I just thought that Talbot might know some things that might be useful to us.

"Namely?" Josef probed much to her chagrin.

"I ... I don't know yet exactly," she had to admit contritely.

"That means you risked your life for nothing at all?" he inquired incredulously.

"No, it doesn't mean that," she added quickly. "I've been able to learn a lot."

Josef raised his brows skeptically, yet prompted her with a silent gesture to speak on.

"Talbot has investigated Mick for a while now and he knows something's off about him," Beth reported and instantly could see concern flashing in Josef's eyes.

"Does he know that he is...," he stopped and shook his head, "...was ...," irritated frowning, "... _is_ a vampire?"

"Not yet," Beth said. "But it's only a matter of time."

Josef uttered an unsatisfied gasp. "What else?"

"He has contacts to the Legion," she went on. "But he doesn't really work for them."

"Not really?" her friend repeated with an indignant laugh. "What's that supposed to mean? That he only _sometimes_ lures people into traps for them?"

"He ... he didn't do that," Beth quickly disagreed with assurance. But Josef only gave her a glance that said that right now he really doubted her sanity.

"You speak with him for a few minutes and a brigade of mercenaries is instantly after you ... and he doesn't work for this caboodle?!"

"Yes, they were after me," she retorted, agitated, "but only because they'd tailed Ben and wanted to know who the mysterious woman was that he had met. If they'd known who I was, I wouldn't have escaped them! Then they wouldn't have sent just four men after me, but most probably a whole group."

Josef's eyes were still full of skepticism but at least he was listening to her arguments. "Well, if he doesn't belong with them, why have they contacted him? Why did they tail him?"

"Maybe because he's a D.A. and has important connections to the Supreme Court that they think they might need," suggested Beth. "Or he may be able to get hold of important information that they can not get by themselves."

"You think he's just a poor victim who is put under pressure from the bad guys and is actually on our side," Josef took up her words and she shook her head, annoyed.

"No. He's on no one's side. Ben Talbot is a terribly ambitious, cunning man who knows exactly what he's doing. But he is not malicious. He believes in what he does and he believes in himself and his work and always tries to do his own thing," she said firmly. "If someone tries to put pressure on him, he will see to it that he gets his hands on something which he can use to rid himself of that pressure. I am sure that he has already collected information on the Legion which could be of immense value to us. And apart from that he can help us find out how this politician, this Jefferson, is involved in the whole story surrounding Mick. "

This time she seemed to have found the right words to overcome Josef's skepticism and to convince him that her operation hadn't drawn only negative consequences. Now he had fallen into a deep brooding silence and his eyes seemed strangely introverted. For a while he barely stirred until a noise from the hall sounded and a hung-over looking Peterson came into the living room. His face lit up as his tired eyes recognized who was sitting across from Josef on the couch.

"Miss Turner!" he exclaimed happily and at once he hurried to meet her. Beth got up and allowed him to enfold her briefly in his arms. Somehow the old man had grown on her and she really enjoyed seeing him again.

"How are you?" he asked with an affectionate smile as she moved away from him a bit.

"Better than I would have thought a few hours ago," she smiled back and realized that Josef had also risen.

"Well, well, welcoming ceremony ended," he grumbled a bit ungraciously. "Frank, maybe you can bring Logan and Seth up from the basement. I think we still have some very important things to discuss."

Beth stumbled across the unfamiliar informality between the two, while Peterson nodded and then quickly disappeared again.

"What ... what are you about to do now?" Beth turned to her friend a bit confused and couldn't shake off the feeling that her report on Talbot suddenly had unleashed a chain of events to an extent she couldn't grasp yet.

"Even though I cannot approve your inconsiderate behavior, I must admit that your information has led me to some new and possibly good ideas," he said and looked past her toward the hall. "The only problem is that I need Mick for a couple of these things."

Beth looked at him in surprise. "When? Now?"

He broodingly scratched his temple. "Actually, yes, but I doubt that he will be willing to come out of his room."

She took a deep breath. "I ... I'll handle that," she said firmly. It was time to start phase one of her plan.

Josef raised an eyebrow. "What? Get him out of the room?" His voice soared with strong doubts but she nodded confidently.

"And get him to support us," she added optimistically. She waited for Josef's laugh but instead saw that he really wanted to believe her.

"That means that you want to go to his room by yourself and..."

"...talk with him, yes."

Josef was breathing audibly through his nose which attested to the fact that he had to struggle a bit with himself to be able to respond to her offer. "Well, you do that," he then said to her surprise. "But if you're not back in ten minutes, I'll come get you."

Beth nodded and moved before he could change his mind. Her desire to see and talk to Mick grew with every step she took and her excitement quickened her pulse as if she had run a 100-yard-sprint. Her stomach did a small flip when she approached the door to his room and caused her a bit of uncertainty. What if he threw her out of the room and didn't give her the chance to tell him what she absolutely had to tell him? What if her plan didn't work?

Beth shuddered inwardly and banished all negative thoughts to the farthest corner of her mind. In this house there were already enough pessimists. What they needed was an optimist, someone who stood her ground even against the rejection of the man whom she loved so much that it sometimes hurt.

Outside the door she stopped. She wasn't planning to knock because she was afraid that if she did it was possible that Mick would take the opportunity to escape through the window. Instead, she simply inhaled deeply, collected all her strength and opened the door.

Of course, Mick had known that she was outside his room which he expressed through his defensive posture. He stood on the opposite side of the room in front of the window, leaning on the windowsill with crossed arms. Immediately his eyes rested on her face and she clearly saw his cheek muscles twitch with tension.

Beth had to clear her throat to speak because her own excitement almost choked her. Nevertheless, she attempted a smile. 'Just stay loose, stay loose.'

"Actually, I'd hoped you'd might come back to the living room to give me the 'hello' you still owe me from earlier," she said as casually as possible and slowly walked toward him. 'Speak to me! Let me hear your voice!' pleaded a small, feeble voice deep inside her; one which she despised deeply and tried to suppress as often as possible.

"Why ... why are you doing this?" Mick replied and the familiar, deep tone of his voice alone caused her heart do a little joyful jump, although the words he spoke didn't please her.

"What do you mean? Returning to this house or visiting you in your room?" she asked straightforwardly, and noticed that he leaned back a little bit further when she made a last huge step toward him. Now they were barely three feet away from each other and her heart was beating violently in her chest. She felt an urgent, almost burning desire to touch him and to hold him firmly in her arms, which was not very helpful right now as she wasn't here to satisfy her own needs. She was here to make clear to him what he could expect from her in the next few days. And to let him know that she would never leave his side no matter how much he struggled against her. But the flicker in his beautiful eyes, the whiff of affection and deep longing he fought against so strongly, made it extremely difficult to stick to her original plan. Ultimately she was also only a human being who so desperately longed for his closeness that it began to cause her pain.

"You are not allowed to be here," he said quietly without responding to her questions and looked at her urgently. "And you certainly shouldn't be alone around me."

"And you should get used to the idea that I will do exactly that," she replied calmly.

Beth noticed how his chest heaved in a deep and strained breath. "Beth, you don't know what I have done in the last few days," he uttered with painstaking self-control. "Maybe I give the impression that I'm better and that soon I'll be my old self again, but that is not the case."

"I know," she cut in. "And that is a problem I'll worry about in the coming days and weeks, whether you like it or not. You know me, Mick, I can be as stubborn as you are."

Mick stared at her for a moment with an open mouth and an expression of total astonishment. But, unfortunately, he didn't stay that way for long. He shook his head in disbelief, dropped his arms and pushed past her to gain a little space, a little more distance.

"Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm not the only one who has something wrong with me, but everyone else around me does, too," he said with a mirthless laugh as he turned back to her. "But don't ask me to accept that or to participate in this madness!"

"But that's exactly what I'm about to do," Beth said and quietly moved to him again. "In that respect, I don't actually care whether you do."

"Listen up," he began angrily, but Beth was faster and took two big steps toward him and in the next instant pressed a hand to his mouth. Mick tried to retreat but he was already too close to the wall and bumped into it without being able to free himself. He didn't seem to be able to grab her hand to tear it off his mouth.

"No, now _you_ listen to _me_!" she said in a tone that brooked no dissent. She inwardly cursed herself because in a small way she enjoyed the feeling of his warm, soft lips on her palm. But she knew that this wasn't really okay, considering Mick's currently upset state.

"I will stay, Mick," she continued sternly. "You will not change that, no matter what you do. And in this small house you can't dodge me forever. That being said, I will seek and find you no matter where you hide. You won't get rid of me. I've told you this before, and it is just as pertinent today as then." She could feel his lips moving beneath her hand as if he wanted to say something, but she didn't allow that. She increased the pressure and looked at him intently. "I love you, Mick, and I know you love me too. No power on earth can convince me of the opposite. Even you can't, if you attempt to try to protect me from yourself that way. I know that we are going to go through a tough time together, that this is a hard test for our relationship, but I'll be with you. I will never leave you alone again! Perhaps you don't have enough strength to fight for yourself, to handle what happened, and to get your life back on track, but _I_ do!_ I_ have enough strength for both of us! We don't need to fear the future as long as we're together, Mick! Together we can do anything; you just have to permit it to happen!"

She had found the right words she clearly felt it and she could see it in his eyes. They showed so clearly his inner turmoil but also his trust and affection for her. But she didn't dare to let him go. She was afraid he might perhaps choose words that could still hurt her. Even if she would have liked so badly to deny it, she suddenly felt as confused as he and her eyes burned treacherously. She was trying hard to block out what made thinking so difficult for her and stirred her need for his presence so much: the warmth that emanated from his body and penetrated her own clothes. His breath on her hands, his lips under her fingers, the deep blue of his eyes in which she could almost get lost. Why had she gotten so terribly close to him that they were separated by barely an inch?

A hug at least, a little innocent hug, that was all she wanted, what she needed. But even that she felt she would not and could not treat herself to.

"There's... there's so much to care about now," she went on with a slightly scratchy voice. "And the others and I ... we need your help, Mick. As strange as it may sound, we need your help to be able to help _you_. They're all sitting there in the living room, trying to develop a plan to oppose yours and their enemies. They have given up everything in LA to fight here at your side. Don't leave them in the lurch."

Carefully she removed her hand from his mouth and took a step back. "No one can force you to live, Mick," she added. "But that is what we all wish so much for."

Mick still said nothing although he now was free to do so, but that was okay with her. She could see the wheels turning in his head, his various feelings and thoughts beginning to fight with each other. This was long overdue, and she decided to just leave him alone again.

He didn't try to hold her back as she left the room and that was a good thing because at the moment her legs felt so wobbly that she actually swayed a little as she slowly walked down the hallway. She had finished her first attempt to get Mick out of his self-dug hole and actually felt a little better and was motivated to continue. When she thought about it, Mick's reaction was actually quite positive and perhaps she didn't have to go to Plan B to get him back to being a part of their community. Maybe he would actually follow her after a little while and venture to take the first steps out of his inner isolation.


	28. Progresses with obstacles

_*It's Sunday and thanks to SG6169 I'm able to post this chapter right in time. Thanks for the quick beta work, SG! I have to go to my grandparents, so I have to make this short! I thank you all so much for your feedback and hug honeyx for the translation! And now have fun with the new chapter! Yours, Jenna*_

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**Progresses with obstacles**

"Does this mean I have to call off the mission _Eagle Eye_?" Logan looked at me with clear horror on his face, and Seth, who was sitting next to him even gave a few heartbeats long the impression as if he would burst into tears at any moment. We had sat down together with Peterson in the living room, and I tried to convey the latest news and also my new plans to the others, while waiting for Beth to come back with preferably good news from her visit with our curmudgeon.

"Of course not," I hurried to say to prevent the worst. A blubbering Seth was the last thing I wanted to deal with right now. "It is still of utmost importance to find out, who our enemies are and where we can find them. All I want you to do is to collect also some information about Talbot. For whom exactly he's working, which bigwigs in politics he's in contact with, and what important information he might have for us."

"So the usual stuff," Logan declared slightly bored.

"Not only that," I knew better. "What I'm also desperate for, is information about his daily routine, his habits and hobbies. I just need everything you can find out about this man…"

Logan was visibly confused by my sudden interest in Talbot. "Is he our new public enemy No. 1?"

"Sort of," I replied somewhat distracted because now I could hear steps in the hallway. Just a few seconds later Beth appeared in the living area - only Beth. I cast a questioning glance at her and she reacted with a slight shrug. But the satisfied look in her eyes told me that her conversation with Mick had been successful in some way. At least there were no visible bite marks on her body. Anyhow, that was at least something ...

"Hey, you're back again!" Seth noted in a voice as if he was the first one who noticed this fact and I rolled my eyes.

Beth nodded with a polite smile and then sat down on the couch on the other side of Logan, who instantly eyed her with great interest.

"Apparently he wasn't hungry, was he?" he noted almost with disappointment, and I heard a light lechery in his voice that found its echo in his eyes. We just had had to live too long without fresh blood from a beautiful girl's neck or arm.

Beth knitted her brows angrily. "I wasn't there to… to feed him!"

"No?" Logan seemed to be really serious about this question and I was about to throw the dusty pillow I had behind my back at his head.

"Logan...!" I snarled menacingly and in doing so gained his attention very quickly.

"What?" he asked in an innocent way. "That would at least make the vampire in him very happy and maybe we all would have more rest from him then."

"This is exactly what we _don't_ want," I growled.

"Make him happy?" Now Logan was completely confused.

I ran both my hands over my face and took a deep breath. Stay calm, don't freak out, I had to tell myself once again.

"No, Logan," Beth divested me of the work with that big boy. "We don't want to have rest from him. On the contrary, we want him to join us and take part in our lives again."

Logan furrowed his brows pensively. "Are you sure?" he dared to probe to my annoyance, "After what happened last night?"

Now it was Beth looking around inquiringly and I really had to pull myself together not to jump down Logan's throat.

"Okay what _happened_ last night?" she naturally addressed me now. "Mick has already mentioned this as well and also Simone has indicated something, so it probably must have been pretty bad."

I inhaled deeply. "Yes, it was bad, but in the end we were able to get it under control," I tried to explain anxiously patient. At the moment Beth was the only one beside me who had no real fear of Mick and that was how it should stay. My friend desperately needed a few people around him who showed a certain degree of confidence and trust in him.

"After Mick had bitten not only August but Josef as well," Logan had to add, and this time I had to close my eyes and slowly count to ten inwardly, otherwise I would have exploded. To his own luck, the outward clearly visible reaction on my part silenced Logan, and when I opened my eyes again he was studying very carefully his feet.

Beth, however, looked at me thoughtfully. "That means the vampire inside him is still not quite under control," she indicated. The idea, however, didn't seem to frighten her. It rather looked as if she had prepared long since, that not everything here had went as planned.

"That doesn't really surprise me," she confirmed my suspicion. I frowned and gave her a questioning look that made her continue.

"I thought quite a lot about all of this when I had been jailed..." My warningly raised eyebrow made her falter. "....allowed to spend my time in that wonderful hotel room," she corrected quickly, "and somehow I've come to believe that Mick himself stands more in his own way than anyone else here."

"That's nothing new," it just slipped from my lips and this time_ I_ was the one who received an angry glance from Beth. "Sorry," I added with a slight smirk.

"What do you mean exactly?" Peterson inquired really interested.

Beth was silent for a moment, because she probably had to gather her thoughts once more. However, I wondered if it was really such a good idea to talk so openly about Mick, for it was quite possible that by some miracle he might yet appear here in the living room. On the other hand a bit more openness toward him was maybe not that harmful.

"You once said that the vampire and the human in Mick are struggling with each other on the physical, genetic level," Beth started to explain. "I think they do that also on the emotional level. The human tries to hamper the vampire and prevent him from truly waking up and the vampire tries it the other way round."

Frank nodded comprehendingly. "This would explain why Mick doesn't taste anything although he actually should be able to, and also why he has such immense trouble with sleeping. In a way the vampire sees to it that he cannot really live like a human."

"Wait a minute," I simply had to interfere and looked especially at Beth, frowning. "Didn't you take the view just before I sent you away that we shouldn't split Mick into two different persons, but help him to unite his two sides?"

"Yes," Beth admitted openly, "and I still do. But Mick himself causes artificially a real separation of his two sides. The human psyche can fabricate amazing things if it wants to. He is fighting against himself, namely against both his sides, and if we don't intervene he will only destroy himself in the end. We have to appreciate and support both sides in equal measure - only then he can do it as well and will be able to live a relatively normal life again."

Beth scared me a little bit with her analysis of our friend, but somehow I felt that she had gotten closer to his problem than anyone else who had dealt, so far, with Mick's condition yet. We had all been only occupied with protecting and supporting Mick's human side so far. The vampire had mostly been a thorn in the eye, someone who had to be fought and suppressed. The fact that he maybe needed our help as well had never crossed our minds – not even mine. And I had still been one of the few persons who had somewhat understood his aggressive behavior. The farmhouse was full of vampires - amazing that there was a human needed that made us realize that we had been about to deny someone from among us the right to life.

"And what exactly do you think we should do now?" I asked.

"We need to make sure that both sides get a room in which they can unfold unimpeded, where they can come back to life. And we must create stimuli so that they are willing to really crawl out of their shells at all."

"Shell?" Logan repeated doubtfully. "Well, if this super vampire in Mick is antsy, then you can call me Lara from now on! _If_ he hides somewhere then in the Elm street!"

Seth had to laugh but Beth shook her head vigorously and he instantly fell silent again a bit cowed.

"You've got this wrong, Logan," she replied, in my opinion much too patiently, "Mick's vampire aggressions have a lot to do with fear - fear of death. It's only about surviving. He provides himself with blood and takes care that no one can get close enough to him to endanger him. That's all he's focusing on and also for a vampire that's not really living. He's more a beast than anything else because he thinks he cannot permit himself anything else. He has to get away from this thought immediately. His human side desperately needs to accept him."

"And what does this mean exactly?" Logan inquired doubtingly.

That we aren't allowed to fight him anymore, no matter how much we fear him. And we have to find a place where he can act out his feelings, where he can test his powers and train his self-control.

"Yes," Frank agreed with much enthusiasm. "What about the old barn nearby? If we tinker about with it a little bit and install some safety arrangements…"

A delighted smile slid over my lips. "Good idea," I had to admit. "Afterwards I'll talk instantly to Alejandro about it. I'm sure that can be done."

"You're serious about that, aren't you?" Logan asked and I could hear a lot of discomfort in his voice. "You really want to create a sort of ... madhouse for him. But I don't have to participate, right?"

"Well, actually I thought about you being the one taking over the first charge," I said deadly serious and was glad to witness the rare phenomenon of seeing a vampire getting pale. Logan's cheeks became grey and his eyes stricken with fear he tried desperately to read out of my facial expression if I was just joking.

Unfortunately Beth had to mess up my works by putting one hand on Logan's shoulder and shaking her head. The little freak let the air out of his lungs with a relieved sigh and I could hear a soft "Thank God".

"It would be great if that works," Beth addressed me and showed me in doing so that this whole subject was much too important for her to drift away from it. "But it's also at least as important to stop treating Mick like a patient or someone special. If he should be led back to a normal life we all have to deal with him in a totally normal way. That also means that he possibly takes an active part in everything what we're about to do and that we keep him informed about everything what's going on in this house. Apart from that I share your opinion, Josef, that we actually cannot relinquish him and his abilities. I'm sure his mind is working well again, just like his intuition. And he had gotten onto the track of the Legion even before he got kidnapped. He has for sure a lot of important information - most of all about this Jefferson."

I wanted to say something about that but suddenly I had this feeling inside me that let me pause and sharpened my senses which concentrated on the area behind me, the dark floor. My hackles rose a little bit just like they always did whenever I had the feeling of being eavesdropped on or observed. All the worse it was that Logan had risen to speak instead of me.

"If you say we have to inform him about everything," he said hesitantly", and I shook my head in bad omen hoping to be able to stop him in time in doing so but Logan just looked at Beth and continued, "does it also mean he has to know about _Him_ and the whole thing about Lance?"

Beth frowned because she was one of the clueless ones concerning this story. "I thought this matter has been settled," she said astonished and of course she looked straight at me. So it was me again who had to carry the can for this whole crap.

"That would completely counter Lance's character," came the answer surprisingly from a totally different direction, and all the others except for me flinched, feeling caught. Mick stood in the entry and now crossed his arms before his chest to look provocatively at me. "He's not the type of vampire who can brook a defeat that easily, or what would you say, Josef?"

I smiled. Not arrogantly or cynically. Not even viciously. No, I smiled truly and full of joy because I was the only one besides Beth and Peterson who knew how much effort it must have cost Mick to join us and what a progress it was. In the end Beth's discussion had been a big success because she had indeed elicited him out of his lonely cave. I was really wondering what she had told him....

"No," I admitted outright. Of course the following talk would become uncomfortable and would upset Mick a lot but unfortunately it wasn't avoidable anymore. And I have to admit that his activities put us quite under pressure.

"What... what exactly does that mean?" Beth asked with delay, because it was hard for her to tear her eyes beaming with joy, away from Mick's face, and to concentrate on another person.

"The fact that he'll try to take revenge his way," he explained and showed that Beth had been right about her assumption concerning his intellectual capacity. He didn't need fence time anymore.

Beth herself was so torn between her anxiety towards the future and her elation for Mick that she accomplished the feat to smile lovingly and at the same time to open her eyes wide in horror.

"And which way _is_ his?" she asked Mick now directly and I didn't even try to interfere. It was much more interesting to see how this old and very productive dynamic between the two of them came back to life. "It doesn't sound as if he would risk another frontal attack," Beth considered. "No, that's not his style," Mick said amazingly calmly. "I think he'll try to pull other vampires on his side, to fight together with them against his new enemies..."

Actually there should have followed a provoking and requesting look at me and I was sure it had even been his intention, but it seemed as if my friend had the same difficulties to break his eyes away from Beth like she had. So it came that the expression in his eyes was more inquiring that provoking when he finally managed with great effort to look at me.

The amused smile slid over my lips before I could do something against it. Of course it didn't fit to my words at all. "In this whole story Lance isn't the one we really have to fear," I had to admit and luckily gained control over the corners of my mouth again. "There are much older, much more powerful vampires in Europe who are also here in L.A., greatly feared. And unfortunately it seems like Lance is in touch with their paramount leader."

"Who? Dracula?" Mick uttered amused. Horror stories belonged to the things Mick had never shown any respect for or had even believed in them.

"No, Vlad belongs indeed to the circle of the more powerful vampires but he cannot catch up with _Him_," I explained calmly and it wasn't only Mick but also Beth who was speechless for an instant.

"Dracula is _not_ just a legend?" Beth was the first who found her tongue again and the same thought seemed to have crossed also Mick's mind because he didn't gave the impression as if this question didn't interest him.

"Many stories have a true core," I explained and felt like a grandfather who passed his sheer vast wisdom to his fretful grandchildren - or rather _had_ to pass it because I felt anything but comfortable in this role. "But like I've already said: Vlad isn't our problem."

"But... I thought he _is_ _He_," now Logan interfered slightly puzzled. "I drilled down on that and…"

"Sometimes direct contacts are the more reliable source than technique, satellites and little freaks all around the world hacking at their computers," I growled. "Just believe me."

Logan cast an almost deadly glance at me and defiantly crossed his arms in front of his chest. "We don't hack at our computers but at the consoles!" he grumbled but got silent when Seth nudged him. The little nag seemed to have a better intuition for my mood than his friend. Respect. "And who is this menace then?" Mick asked and showed me with the way he spoke about it, that he still wasn't all set to understand the gravity of this situation.

"It's said that he's the last survivor of the _ancient ones_," I explained now calmly and noticed how Logan and Seth held their breath in horror while Frank, who had restrained himself very much before, was suddenly totally awake and sat up in his chair. It really amazed me that he knew this name as well.

"There... there's still a survivor?" Frank asked, his voice shaking with excitement.

"Yes, and you've already talked to him on the phone," I answered a bit brusquely.

I didn't like the expression in his eyes at all because it brought home to me that there was still the ambitious scientist in him to whom his research had once meant more than the lives of countless vampires. Besides that, I could feel his behavior making Mick nervous. My friend hadn't stayed in his corner, but now moved slowly in a wide arc past us towards the window and the exit.

"Is it true they can fly?" Seth asked excited.

"...and read your mind?" Logan added with wide eyes.

"Of course," I said with sarcasm, my eyes following Mick through the room with concern until he stopped next to the couch, close to Beth and looked at me again with his arms crossed. But this time this gesture appeared less fending, more like he tried to give himself more security, to get his growing fears under control.

"But they only did this when they weren't already walking through walls or transforming into animals. I mean even as a mythical creature you need some diversion...," I said sarcastically and indeed brought a little smirk to Mick's lips.

Logan watched me for a moment with his mouth wide open, then he stumbled and finally grinned. "You... you're shitting us!" he noted with a mix of anger and amusement and Seth uttered a relieved sigh while I was just rolling my eyes and shook my head bogged.

"His powers must be immense," Frank considered aloud and full of enthusiasm. "So pure and genuine."

This was one of these moments I wished an anvil would fall down from heaven and slay this tactless person. Why did people always had to have these weak moments, forgetting where they were and who was in the room with them? Mick tried not to look at the professor but I sensed clearly that he began to feel uneasy. Automatically his gaze roamed to Beth whose eyes already rested anxiously on his face and seemed to give him the security he needed right now.

"Yes, that's right," I growled in Peterson's direction. "He could kill you with just one finger - totally pure and genuine."

Frank looked at me shocked and my iron like stare made him crouch down in his chair. "How... how old is this _ancient one_?" Logan asked still pretty impressed.

"Doesn't legend have it that _the ancient ones_ were fallen angels who had been punished by god by being turned into sanguinary creatures of the night?" Seth uttered in a devotional whisper. I gave him a skeptical glance. "Yes... immortality and eternal youth – that's really a terrible burden." "People have always packed everything they didn't understand into legends and fairytales," Frank interfered again but this time he tried to hold himself back and to sound factually. "But the rumor about _the ancient ones_ being archangels really exists. At least they were supposed to having taken over their names. I rather think it was the other way round. They already had their names before, but because the people couldn't explain their powers and their mystic aura they thought of them as angelic beings who had been banished from heaven."

"That means _He_ is one of these… angels?" now Mick asked hesitantly.

"These are just stories," I said, inwardly being busy with the question where Peterson had all this information from. "I've never met _Him_ personally but I know that in the course of his long life _He_ had had a lot of different names and nobody really knows who _He_ is." I took a deep breath, arranging my thoughts to their importance. "Well, it's a fact _He_ could be dangerous for us. And that's why we have to make sure we can really calm him down concerning the developments here."

Beth tore her gaze away from Mick's tense face and instead stared at me questioningly. "Again, from the beginning so that I really get it," she said. "Lance has contacted this... superior vampire, right?"

I nodded my assent. "And he wants to do what concerning which development?"

I thought about that for a moment and then just decided to cut right to the chase of the matter. We just didn't need more confusion.

"In about two weeks this 'superior' vampire will arrive here with a bunch of other important vampires and..." It was harder to get that out than I had expected.

"...and evaluate how dangerous I am?" Mick of all people helped me and I couldn't do anything else than to nod – this time a bit more casually. Despite this unpleasant news he stayed astoundingly calm. At least on the outside you couldn't tell anything except the light twitching of his cheek-muscles. It was Beth who gasped for air scandalized.

"Please, what?!" it burst out of her agitated. "Who... who do they think they are? Nobody's put on display here... and judged!"

"We don't have a choice, Beth!" I responded vigorously. "Not all vampires are on our side and the Legion puts a high pressure on all of us! We need to get in with the powerful vampires, at least in some extent, otherwise we expose ourselves to the danger to get attacked from several sides at the same time. In the long run we wouldn't survive this."

My words were followed by an unpleasant silence. Again it was Mick who broke it and slowly began to really confuse me with his forced calmness. "Josef's right," he addressed Beth who still seemed to struggle with my words. "There's no other possibility to work this whole thing out in peace."

"Let us assume they don't like what they see in you," Beth got out concerned. "What are they going to do then?"

"Nothing," I replied instantly. "They won't have the chance to do anything,"

"What do you mean by that?" it burst out of Mick alarmed and I paused. Something was really wrong here. Why did he worry about what_ I_ was planning to do?

"That I am prepared for this case as well," I responded and studied Mick's facial expression, who now showed clearly that his calmness hit the brick wall at this point. "I have powerful allies as well."

"You're not seriously planning to attack them, are you?" Mick stared at me in disbelief but I didn't answer him. I mean why? He knew the answer to his question.

"Do you know what you're about to do with that?" he went on furiously. "Do you know what you're risking? Not only our lives but even that a war erupts between the different groups of vampires!"

"What am I supposed to do then Mick?" I countered and the anger boiling up in me slowly accelerated my heartbeat. "Allow them to take you away and maybe lock you up? What if they are so scared about you that they want to kill you?"

Mick just looked at me and remained silent. It was enough for me to know what he thought. Somebody who hated himself like he did would not hesitate to sacrifice himself for others, most of all if it were people he really loved. This thought almost maddened me.

"I certainly won't just watch them calmly lead you like a lamb to the slaughter just because some wannabe-super-vampires want to play God!" I called excitedly and was suddenly on my feet.

"I'm anything else than a lamb!" Mick countered with the same anger and took a big, threatening step toward me. "Maybe it's about time that somebody is coming who's able to take a more objective view of the whole thing and draws the right conclusions from it!"

"MORE OBJECTIVE? RIGHT CONCLUSIONS?" Now I really shouted and Seth and Logan ducked their heads and got very small on the couch while Beth jumped up bravely and placed herself between us. "DO YOU KNOW OF WHOM YOU'RE TALKING HERE?!"

"Josef....! Mick....!" Beth was a bit helpless because no one of us even paid her a tang of attention.  
"I'M TALKING ABOUT YOU AND YOUR BLIND SPOT!" Mick yelled back and got that close that Beth raised both her hands and pressed them against our chests, apparently hoping to keep us at distance that way. A joke, if one considered that she wasn't up against human strength.

"THE ONLY ONE HERE HAVING A BLIND SPOT IS YOU!" I clamored and really made it hard for Beth to keep her position.

"Josef.... stop it!" Beth uttered strained but I was nowhere near ready yet.

"DON'T YOU DARE TO THROW YOUR LIFE AWAY JUST LIKE THIS, BEFORE YOU HAVEN´T EVEN TAKEN A LOOK AT IT!"

"IT'S _MY_ LIFE! I CAN DO WITH IT WHATEVER I WANT TO!"

Oh, how I hated these words and at least they had to seem quite familiar to the person between us.

"Mick…," Beth now tried to filter down to my friend, but he was completely fixated on my face and in the light blue of his eyes I could clearly see the vampire awakening and preparing for taking over the control.

"Calm down!" Beth nevertheless continued trying to get his attention. "Please!"

"You can't! Not as long as I'm around you!" I hissed a little more restrained. Even if I was terribly angry I really didn't want to bring the vampire in Mick to scene precisely because it would just approve his expectation. It was hard but I could bridle my anger.

"WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" for Mick it was much harder to calm down again. His eyes were menacingly bright now and somehow it seemed to me as if his canines were notably longer. But as a vampire he had never spoken before so we still had a chance. Beth seemed to think the same. She swung fully around to him, simply took his face in both her hands and forced him to look at her that way. Mick did it extremely reluctantly, but he _did_ it after all.

"Breathe!" she commanded, holding his head in an iron like grasp, and indeed, after a short moment of hesitation he attended her orders and inhaled deeply.

"That's just the tension and worry of all of us, okay?" she spoke on and I admired her in secret for the calmness in her voice. "We can clarify this without flying at one another..."

I could hardly believe it but bit by bit his eyes got darker again and finally he really seemed to nod lightly. Beth gave him a loving smile. "Good," she said softly and lowered her hands but not without letting one hand run lightly over his cheek in an utterly tender gesture.

Also Logan awakened from his stiffness and got ready to get up. "Well, I'm off to work then again," he explained, reacting to my puzzled look.

"Sit down!" I commanded and Logan sank back into his chair, looking disappointed. His fear of Mick was over-palpable but still couldn't rival with the respect for me. Beth closed her eyes to recollect but opened them very quickly again. "I think there are two things we have to adhere: First, Lance and his friends will definitely appear her in two weeks to pinpoint if Mick is a danger for them." She took a look around but no one seemed to have a reason for contradicting her.

"Secondly…" Now she looked directly at Mick "Nobody in this house will let it happen that anybody lays hands upon you, Mick. It doesn't mean a war will break loose then – we'll do our best to avoid that - but we also won't put up with everything."

Mick's cheek muscles twitched again but he finally nodded understandingly.

"Good," Beth said once more and then she looked at the others. "If we do our best in the next few weeks there will be no escalation and no fight in the end. I'm sure about this."

"I agree," Frank tried to support her and became the second optimist in this house in doing so. I could imagine where this new attitude came from: Beth had managed to push back the vampire midway and she hadn't even noticed it for real. If this wasn't a real progress…

At least it proved that Peterson had been right with his estimation concerning Mick and Beth and I almost felt something like gratefulness for his advice and support.

"We'll be able to manage it without anyone coming to grief," the professor added. "Without fail."

"And a little less yelling would be great," Logan added carefully. "I know it doesn't seem so but I have sensitive ears."

"And a sensitive soul," Seth wanted to help his friend but instantly got an angry glance from him. "No!" Logan shot back indignantly. "I've nerves of steel! It's indeed just about my ears."

"It's okay, Logan," I said smirking and put on an extra pitiful facial expression. "We feel you..."

"No, you don't!" Logan realized quite rightly but he couldn't say anything else because suddenly Hendrik stumbled into the living room, visibly agitated and not really dressed yet. His shirt hung over one shoulder and his jeans weren't buttoned up yet. At least his appearance caused the last rest of our tension deserting us.

"What... what happened?" he stammered but stopped confused as he noticed that everything seemed to be alright again.

I heard the fast steps of another person and then August appeared on the scene, not really better dressed. Apparently our yelling had ripped them both out of their peaceful sleep in their freezer. But an outsider without this information for sure would've thought something completely different. It was just an old reflex when I searched for Mick's gaze and when I saw his smirk I knew he thought the same. We had to turn away quickly - otherwise we would have broken out in laughter - and confused the two new arrivals all the more. I didn't care. It was much more important that our fight was forgiven and forgotten in this very second. Although we both would for sure struggle with the other one's statements of for a while we would nevertheless be able to act with one another relatively normal again – anyway up to our next fight which would certainly follow soon.

"Everything's all right again," Beth said to the two men. "We could clarify this." But her sight amazed them additionally for like Seth they hadn't known that the young woman was back again.

I nodded approvingly to help her. "Just a little fight among friends," I added and hoped that it neither dawned on Hendrik nor on August that we had purposely held an assembly behind their backs. Hendrik did me in his simplicity this favor, murmured something about going back to bed and disappeared instantly. But August gave me a glance that didn't bode well and then walked over to the fridge to get himself a meal.

With that act he also rang in the end of our little private meeting because not only I regarded August molester but also the whole rest of my friends, for they all started to move suddenly. Logan and Seth exchanged a brief, very relieved look and marched with a short "We're back down now again" toward the hallway, Peterson got up and stretched himself to explained then that he needed a bit of fresh air now and Mick of course bowed out to disappear into his room. Since last night he avoided August more than anyone else here. Only Beth stood there in the middle of the room a bit undecided, visibly struggling with her need to follow Mick. In the end she shook her head and plunked down into the couch slightly exhausted.

I myself was deeply lost in one weird thought: If somebody had asked me a few years ago whom I would trust the most in a difficult situation I would never ever have thought about this group of people except for Mick. And somehow I had to grin. Sometimes life took quite strange paths... and sometimes it was good to follow them.


	29. Awakening

_*__It's Thursday – posting day! And the next chapter is in fact ready. I thank you all a lot for your feedback! Feel hugged! And a tight extra-hug to Jo, my beta reader, and Morgana, who translated this chapter so wonderfully! And now I wish you much fun with the next chapter. See you at Sunday again, yours Jenna!* _

* * *

**A****wakening **

* * *

_"The night crawls away. The rising of the sun makes the darkness powerless."_

_  
__(Ernst Ferstl)_

* * *

There were moments where time seemed to stand still, when everything seemed to lapse into prayerful stillness to give the magic of the event sufficient space to develop freely. Sunrises like this were such moments. When they were particularly beautiful they announced themselves with this warm yellow-orange glow on the horizon, their offshoots groping their way almost cautiously into the black sky of the night, giving their brightness from one cotton-wool cloud to the next, which then danced in slow motion like glowing fire-creatures across the sky slowly turning a rosy color. But they began to fade away from the big red and yellow fireball which rose gradually behind the rugged mountain face, miles away from Beth's point of view, and ran with all its might its warm, red and golden rays into the barren landscape beneath it. For that brief moment the cactuses and stunted trees, even the dusty ground over which a light breeze was driving and blowing up clouds of fine sand, seemed more precious than any treasure in this world. Because for those few minutes it appeared as if someone had poured a bucket of liquid gold over the landscape.

A blissful shiver ran from Beth's neck down through her whole body and she drank in the fresh air the night had brought along. In a sad gesture of farewell it briefly slipped over her body in a slight gust, stroking her loose hair out of her face. Beth let out a contented sigh, snuggled a little closer into the warm blanket in which she had wrapped herself, and leaned back on the small but not uncomfortable wooden bench on the porch of the house. She just loved those beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Far too rarely she found time in her hectic life to indulge in the wonderful sight of a sunrise. It is precisely these events that can give you new courage, new strength, for they showed in such an overwhelming fashion that the world and the life in it had such beautifully bright sides.

The still weak rays of the sun had now made their way up to her and crawled slowly up her outstretched legs, over her body, and then gently glided onto her face. Beth closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall behind her for a long moment, enjoying the balmy warmth on her skin which relaxed her so wonderfully. She felt a little drowsy because she had slept only a few hours and now decided to indulge herself in some more rest before the other people in the house began to stir. The events of the recent days had been too exciting for her to be able to rest so far and she hadn't been able to sleep straight through. She woke up every now and then and listened to the noises in the house until she had finally realized that she would hear them until the early morning because most of the current occupants of the house were nocturnal creatures. The thought had finally calmed her down enough that she had fallen asleep again. But now, shortly after five o'clock in the morning, sleep hadn't returned. There were so many thoughts that bothered her so she had simply gotten up and changed, truly grateful to Simone who had thoughtfully packed some clothes for her, too. Then she had gone into the kitchen to make herself some coffee.

Dr. Kendlroe was the only one who had still been awake but he had told her that he needed to go to sleep and then had disappeared with an apologetic smile. For Beth it had been quite alright as small talk in the early morning didn't suit her. And she also felt uncomfortable when she was alone in a room with all the foreign vampires. As a human she was always a certain temptation to them.

To sit here on the porch and witness the sunrise had been a good decision Beth thought when she took the coffee cup she had placed next to her into her hands again and absorbed the invigorating, warm and very flavorful liquid. The sight of the sun which was now much higher in the sky and had unmistakably heralded in the day and the fresh air caused her spirit and power to waken anew and enabled her to deal once again with the uncertain future she moved into more deeply with every second that passed.

She wasn't really afraid of this whole thing as Lance and his friends were, but there were certain fears and worries she struggled against with all the resources she could muster. She had quickly realized that on the day of the decision she wouldn't be able to do anything anymore. She could neither plant herself protectively in front of Mick nor could she attack the other vampires because as a human she was purely and simply inferior to them and the idea was simply ridiculous. Nevertheless, she was sure she could play an important role in this whole thing and could accomplish much. She would be able to influence the future, form it, and change it in their favor simply by looking after Mick and helping him to find his old self again. And at this precise moment on the porch in the middle of the bright light of sunrise and her own reactions she reaffirmed the job she had given herself: to wake Mick's human senses again, to give him a chance to feel life as a human being again, to absorb it and to take strength and lust for living from it. Only then would he be able to deal with his dark memories and his vampire side in a positive way. Those who had to enter the dark depths of their souls needed a light in their hearts to guide them.

Even though there had been much struggle and turmoil the previous evening, the first attempt to bring Mick back as an active member of the team had gone relatively well. He had proven to them that his mind was working perfectly again and had found out for himself that at least Josef and she no longer tried to sideline him or leave him out in the cold as they had let him in on the unpleasant details of their plans. And another very important thing had happened: the vampire in Mick had let himself get pushed back from his human side! Of course, Beth had played a significant role in this and had taken great pains to act as if she had not noticed the beginning of the metamorphosis but in the end it had been Mick's will power which had won the fight. He _had_ to have noticed it and she was sure that this would be very helpful for the next days and weeks and especially for her plans.

A small noise from inside the house made Beth prick up her ears. It seemed as if someone else had trouble sleeping, because she distinctly heard footsteps and then the soft gurgling of the water tap. And she had a suspicion as to who this could be.

She took a deep breath again, this time to push back the surge of excitement inside her that exasperatingly always caused an acceleration of her pulse. Then she unwrapped herself from the blanket, got up and went to the entrance of the house. She had previously left the door open to provide for fresh air in the far too musty rooms and so was able to freely enter the house again. Freely but not unnoticed.

In former times Mick had felt her presence even before he had been able to see her. Apparently this hadn't changed. He stood in the kitchen area, leaning on the shelf and facing her holding a large not yet totally empty glass of water in his hand. And he looked at her as if he didn't exactly know how to deal with their early morning encounter. But he wasn't the only one.

"Hey," it slipped from Beth's lips as she gave a slight smile. She felt strangely timid as well and hoped that this would vanish in the next few minutes just like yesterday evening otherwise the execution of her plan would be far more difficult than she had assumed.

Mick looked as if he wanted to return her greeting but managed only a nod and a half smile. His eyes roamed past her, hopefully looking for another person, but immediately turned back to her when she simply walked bravely up to him. However, his whole body posture and the way he looked at her didn't seem to be defensive or scared. She was not quite sure, but somehow she could not shake off the feeling that he longed for contact with her but didn't know for sure if it was really such a good idea for either of them.

"I didn't wake you, did I?" she asked, although she knew perfectly well that this was not the case. But this topic was pretty innocuous and a perfectly suitable way to start a conversation. Especially if you suddenly had to struggle with uncertainty in yourself. Why did the sight of him always put her off her stride so much?

"No," he answered dutifully and put the glass of water aside. "I don't sleep that well yet and I'm often awake around this time."

She put the coffee cup she had clung to since entering on the shelf space and then turned to face him. She was now near enough to examine him more closely and noticed with a small lump in her throat that he looked still drowsy and wrinkled in an extremely cute way. He also hadn't gotten around to buttoning up his shirt so she had an unhampered view to his distinctly slimmer but still very athletic body providing a view almost down to his navel. She couldn't help herself as her gaze went automatically to where it shouldn't go and stopped at every single scar that remained from the dramatic events of the last week on his, to her mind, flawless skin. No outsider would have thought that these almost healed wounds were sustained such a short time ago. Nevertheless, it was unusual for Beth to see such significant scars on Mick's body and she resisted with great effort the need to touch the marks with her fingers.

Mick saw her gaze and immediately turned around pretending that he had to rinse out his glass. She clearly felt that she had caused him discomfort with her stare and Beth closed her eyes briefly and inwardly boxed her ears a few times. How could someone be so weak?

"And ... what woke you?" Mick helped her over the embarrassing silence between them.  
"I don't know," she seized on that topic again. "I think I probably just need to get used to sleeping in a bed that squeaks and creaks with every movement as if it will collapse at any moment."

He nodded understandingly. "I think I'm the only one in this house who spends the night in a bed which deserves to be called that," he admitted with a small smile, which Beth returned immediately. Today he was surprisingly sociable and this helped her to slowly relax a bit.

"Definitely better than your old freezer, isn't it?" she probed.

Mick knitted his brows broodingly as if he really needed to think about it. "It was still a comfortable freezer with a gentle dim light and this low, monotonous humming…," he said almost reverently. Beth was all smiles as this was the old Mick humor which had fought its way bravely to the surface.

"Pillows and blankets," she opposed him with relish. "Soft sheets and a lot of room. Beds have so many advantages."

Mick nodded thoughtfully and inconspicuously began to button his shirt. "A bottom that gives in at least," he had to admit with a grin. "And if you wake up with a start, you don't bump your head."

She had to laugh, while her eyes got stuck again to his hands or rather rushed ahead of them to catch at least a brief look at the temptation which now was being covered. Some needs were really a nuisance but she was only a human.

"And? Have you watched the sunrise?" Mick was trying to win back her attention.

She nodded, smiling. "I love to watch nature as it wakes up," she admitted in a slightly dreamy tone and noticed pleased how something in Mick's gaze changed. It became even softer and more accessible. It reinforced her feeling that he had a strong desire for sensual experiences deep in his heart that he just didn't dare to live out.

"The sun looked like a huge fireball which caused the heaven to burn," she smiled and Mick lifted his lips into a gentle smile, too, visibly enjoying her portrayal.

"The next time I'll simply drag you outside with me," she said reaching for the coffeepot which was almost full and poured another cup.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," she could hear him mutter and felt his longing gaze following every movement of her hands. As a human Mick had been a real coffee fanatic she had noticed during his last re-transformation, along with the fact that he was very fond of tasty food.

"You're human again, Mick," she reminded him and looked strongly into his eyes which rested again on her face. "The sun won't harm you."

As expected, he immediately avoided her gaze and the first tinge of sadness was shown on his face. "I'm not really a human, Beth," he said softly and eyed the tiles on the floor with great concentration.

"Oh, I think so," she contradicted him immediately. "As I understand from Peterson you have the unique ability to switch from one state to the other."

Mick looked at her again and let out an angry laugh. "From your mouth that sounds as if you think I've hit the jackpot."

Oho! Josef had been right. Mick was really quite testy at the moment and his mood could change from one second to another. But she wasn't intimidated that easily.

"Okay, let me explain it in another way," she said and the unwilling furrow of his eyebrows couldn't prevent her from continuing on. "I know that you have to struggle a lot with yourself and that your body often doesn't do what you want it to do, but you shouldn't lock yourself up here in this hole and not dare to do anything just because you don't know exactly what will happen."

Again his eyes were fixed firmly on the floor tiles, but at least he did not contradict her but instead seemed to think about her words.

Beth looked at him for a few seconds and then turned to her coffee when no further response came from him. "Not to mention the fact that it completely goes against your nature," she added softly.

Mick's eyes wandered back to her and he raised his eyebrows challengingly. "Which is?"

She looked at him briefly and to her relief found that his tension was gone and he now seemed more curious than angry. "Let me think," she said slowly and looked up at the ceiling. "Active, energetic, sometimes a little too daring ... brisk."

"Brisk?" he repeated with a half laugh. "In relation to what?"

She shrugged her shoulders with an innocent smile. "In any case it is about time that you give in to this nature a little more and dare something you can not really gage in advance."

Mick raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Such as?"

"A little walk in the sunshine," she immediately came back to her real wish. Of course, he looked at her with skepticism.

"Or a cup of coffee in the morning," she suggested and gave him an inviting smile.

Immediately the resignation was back. "What's the point of that?" he replied looking a bit grief-stricken. "Even if I can tolerate it, I can't taste it anyway."

This was the answer she had waited for. She tilted her head slightly to one side and studied his face for a moment. "When was the last time you ate or drank anything what had a really intense flavor?"  
His eyes fled from her gaze and this time focused on the wall. "Frank mixes me this nutrient drink every morning."

"That's all he has offered you so far?" Beth asked, indignantly. "It probably hasn't even got a taste, or one you'd prefer to forget."

Now his head flew back around to her with a mixture of anger and indignation in his gaze. "Beth, it isn't that simple. I'm not a real human! At least not one like you! And I definitely can't taste anything!"

"Good," she said and confused him now completely.

"'Good' as in 'I believe you that you know better what is going on inside of you'?" His gaze searched for an answer in her face but she simply turned away from him without a word, got a spoon from a drawer, opened the refrigerator and took the small bottle she had deposited here the previous night from it. Precisely for this situation she had prepared herself very well.

"Good' as in: you have your opinion and I have mine," she said as she dripped a few drops of the clear liquid from the bottle on the spoon. Then she stepped close to him and looked at him defiantly. "Or 'good' as in: then this here won't bother you."

She lifted the spoon to the height of his lips and nodded to him with an optimistic smile. "Go ahead! Open your mouth!"

Mick was completely confused now. He wanted to shake his head but instead wrinkled his forehead warily. "What is it?"

"You will taste it then...," she replied calmly, "... or maybe not. That depends on which of us is right."

Again he laughed but this time it was pretty tense. "Beth, what... what's the point of this?"

Beth tilted her head thoughtfully and lifted up her eyebrows. "Are you afraid?"

"No," he exclaimed indignantly. "I just don't understand what this is about."

"This has quite a strong flavor," she explained patiently and felt her arm slowly getting numb. "If you cannot taste it, I'll leave you alone and not bring this topic up again." This was not quite the truth, but at least for the next few days she wouldn't bother him with the topic of 'eating'.

For Mick it was certainly a very tempting offer. He looked at the spoon with increasing interest. "Is it hot?" He asked suspiciously.

"Why should that bother you?" she said provocatively. "You still can't taste it, right?"

He held her gaze and lifted his hand. Beth could do nothing against the little shiver that ran down her back as his fingers gently closed around her wrist and he raised the spoon to his mouth. Equally clearly, she felt his hesitation and saw the question showing in his dark eyes.

Again she nodded encouragingly. "Trust me," slipped very lightly over her lips as Mick opened his and let the spoon disappear into his mouth.

His response came quickly, even faster than she had expected. His face twisted into a pained grimace and within seconds he had yanked the spoon out of his mouth, turned to the side, shaking visibly as his eyes squinted again.

But Beth felt great. She found it hard not to laugh with joy. His response not only showed that he could taste something but also that he could do it just as easily as any other human being. That made her so terribly happy that she would have loved nothing better than to throw her arms round his neck and hug him.

"Oh, God!" Mick said with a half smile and shook again. "What the hell ..."

"Simple citric acid," she replied before he had fully voiced his question, took the spoon again and opened the fridge to fill it again, unseen by Mick.

"Beth Turner," she heard him say warningly behind her, but his voice was filled with so much amusement and joy that she knew he was not mad at her. "There's a real little devil that sleeps inside you."

She closed the fridge again and turned around to him with a big grin, anxious to hide the spoon behind her back. Again she came closer to him and lifted up her chin so he simply had to look into her eyes. The lively sparkle that had suddenly awoken in his eyes made her heart do a few joyous leaps. It worked ... her plan had worked!

"If you recognize this, I promise you that you will be able to enjoy coffee like any other normal person," she said firmly. "Close your eyes!"

Mick was after this 'acid' experience surprisingly obedient and even opened his mouth at once so that the spoon quickly found its target. Only seconds later he opened his eyes again and looked at her with such amazement that laughter burst out of Beth especially when his lips closed tightly around the spoon and then twisted into a blissful grin. It took a while before he was able to release the spoon and speak again. His eyes sparkled with joy and he gave the impression that someone had lit a light inside of him which made his whole body glow.

"Honey," it slipped almost in a purr from his lips and Beth had to laugh again, relieved, freed, and happy. Sometimes it felt simply so good to be right. Especially when a man looked at you in the way that Mick did now, so warm and grateful and full of affection.

Beth held her breath as suddenly his hands reached out for her, grabbed her wrists and gently pulled her to him. His arms tightened around her shoulders, his rough chin briefly touched her forehead and she buried her face in his chest as the pressure against her back got stronger. Mick pulled her even closer to him and buried his nose in her hair inhaling her scent. Finally she dared to wrap her arms around his waist and to listen to the rapid beat of his heart so close to her ear, which found a strong response in her own chest. It was so overwhelming, so intense to feel him suddenly so close, to feel his human warmth soaking through her clothes that her legs became as wobbly as pudding, her throat tightened and her eyes began to burn. How much had she wished for this, how much had she longed to be this close to him, to feel how much she meant to him? She had never expected that this would happen so fast; that her greatest wish would be fulfilled this quickly. And now she didn't want to let go of him again, ever. She wanted to hold him, would love nothing better than to crawl into him and then make sure that no one could ever separate them again, that all the horrors, all the pain and anxiety of the last year would disappear and never come back again. She needed this closeness so much because all problems seemed to be so much smaller and she felt so much stronger. She hoped that he felt the same way.

A faint burble from his stomach pulled them out of their half-trance and she opened her eyes that she had closed unnoticed. The next noise was a little louder and a quiet laughter erupted from her throat. Mick's embrace loosened considerably and she raised her head, looked at him and smiled into his astonished face.

"Seems like we woke a lion," she said softly and had to force her gaze to stay on his expressive eyes. His face was alarmingly close and now one of those little embarrassed, irresistible smiles passed over those luscious lips.

"Now I even have to fight this," he admonished her gently, but his eyes sparkled with amusement. That his gaze briefly roamed over her lips was certainly only her imagination.  
'Okay, Beth, let go of him now,' she told herself as she continued to smile at him feeling just a little spaced out. 'This man has just escaped death and is struggling with the consequences of a series of terrible experiments that have been done to him. It may be that he shares your need for physical affection, but only to a certain respectable degree. So, pull yourself together please!'

"Don't worry, I'll help with the feeding of the beast," she replied in a much too playful voice. Good Lord, now she even started to flirt!

It took a lot of her willpower because Mick made no real move to let her go. But finally she managed to free herself from his arms and go with shaky legs to the refrigerator. She felt Mick's eyes on her back and prayed to God that he really was in a too frail health to divine what was happening to her and which needs this innocent embrace had awakened in her.

She focused quickly on checking a few things in the fridge for their usefulness. Josef had indeed catered in some food but as Peterson and she were the only people who had eaten anything so far, the selection was not too great. And honestly, Beth did not know exactly what Mick was allowed to eat and what he could not eat. Even though his sense of taste clearly was back again, his stomach had been injured by a bullet and she was not sure how far the injury had healed or how careful he had to be.

"Is there anything special you would like to eat?" she asked, turning her eyes away from the contents of the refrigerator to see that Mick had taken a cup from the cupboard and was pouring himself some coffee full of anticipation. His gaze brushed past her when he looked up and then stopped at a point behind her.

"Well, if these are not my two favorite humans." She noticed with a startled wince that it was a talking 'point'.

"Am I disturbing you in a secret conspiracy against the vampires of this house or do we cross each other's path at this early hour only by a twist of fate?"

And a 'point' which was in an unusually good mood. Josef met Beth with a cheerful grin as she turned to him and immediately approached the refrigerator and took out a fresh pack of blood.

Mick examined his friend who was dressed in elegant dark trousers and a silky blue shirt and finally nodded his approval. "Now the look is right again."

In fact, Josef gave off a much looser and much more familiar impression than before. Because through Simone's care he once again was able to dress in expensive, more stylish clothes that were worthy of Josef Kostan. He hadn't radiated such serenity and vitality in a long time and met Mick with a grin that had no equal.

"Why are you up so early?" Beth asked interested and closed the fridge again without having taken anything out.

"Morning shift," he said, and took a glass from the kitchen cabinet above the bin. "I have to organize a lot of things that unfortunately have to do with humans. Although I highly enjoy taking this little vacation here with you, my business doesn't run on its own. And as you know, most humans are more easily accessible during the day."

"What exactly is the 'Morning shift'?" Beth probed, confused.

Josef jauntily poured the blood into his glass. "We all agreed that the house should be supervised by at least two people during the day and since there has been only one diurnal person in the house for a while and I usually have so many things to do..." He shrugged his shoulders and remained looking at Mick who had just taken a sip of his coffee with great pleasure, and frowned. "You drink coffee?" he noted with pleasure and surprise in his voice and Mick nodded without being able to stop the blissful smile that had assailed him.

Josef's broad grin was right back, and Beth was sure that his mood had raised a lot once more.

"We've discovered that my sense of taste has not been lost completely," said Mick, and immediately took another big sip of his dearly beloved and sorely missed beverage.

"Listen to this," Josef smiled. "Have I missed any other significant events during my beauty sleep?"

"No, but we also want to go for a little walk in the sun today," Beth added and in doing so surprised the two men so suddenly that they both nearly choked on their drinks.

"Please, what?" Josef succeeded in asking with a slight cough. "You want ... to go _outside_?" His gaze roamed from Beth to Mick who was visibly overwhelmed by this question.

"Uh ... I ... actually ...," he stuttered, and Beth decided to relieve him quickly.

"I think Mick has been locked up long enough in this house," she said, and made it clear that this was part of her plan and she wouldn't debate about it. "A bit of fresh air and sun will be good for him."

"I have no problem with the fresh air, Beth," Josef replied hesitantly. "But sunlight..."

"He's a human, Josef," she replied firmly and really made him think it over.

"Even if _you_ are of this opinion, Beth," Mick interrupted again and strangely seemed to get really nervous, "It's not the whole truth. I still have a vampire part."

"But at the moment it's terribly small," she put up some resistance. "Isn't it, Josef?"

The vampire looked at his friend thoughtfully for a moment and then nodded. "The vampire smell is really minimal," he had to admit. "Your heart beat sounds like that of a human and you are radiating a lot of heat. Any vampire who doesn't know your story would never get the idea that a vampire also sleeps within you."

"But it says nothing about whether or not I can stand sunlight," Mick objected, agitated, and Beth could definitely feel that he really was afraid to leave the house. However, she was somehow sure that the sun was only a pretense. From her subconscious mind something vaguely different took shape in her mind. She had once read about this phenomenon. People who had been locked up for a long time could have an initial phobia to freedom, to open areas and often struggled with leaving closed rooms where they felt reasonably secure. Strangely enough Mick didn't show this in his states of anxiety. The night when he had wakened from his nightmare and had turned he'd shown a completely antagonistic behavior. He absolutely had to go outside to regain his health.

"He's right there as well," Josef ripped her out of her thoughts and to Beth's annoyance he stepped into Mick's pause. She was pleased all the more when Peterson staggered sleepily into the living area at this very instant and after a brief moment of disorientation came up to them with a faint smile.

"My goodness, are you holding a meeting again so early in the morning?" he murmured and his first expedition led him to the coffee machine.

"What will happen if Mick steps out into the sun," Beth asked bluntly as Peterson generously poured himself some coffee into Beth's half-filled cup.

The professor blinked a few times a little bit confused, but then really thought about the question. Finally he shrugged his shoulders. "In his present condition?" he asked with a glimpse at Mick whose cheek muscles twitched again with tension, and Beth nodded quickly.

"If he does it for a too long period of time," he then nodded to himself approvingly, "...he'll most likely ...," Beth held her breath, "... get a super tan."

The professor chuckled and then happily took a sip of coffee.

Mick stared at him with an expression of utter speechlessness and Josef also raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Are you feeling well?" he asked the old man but the professor only laughed again.

"But of course," he added cheerfully. "It is only six o'clock in the morning but I slept really wonderfully. For the first time since ... I don't know how long. Somehow, I do believe, since yesterday that we will get this all quite right. So ...," he approached Mick and put a hand on his shoulder, "... just do what this wonderful, intelligent young woman tells you to do and go out and get some fresh air! Even a real vampire can not turn to dust in sunlight and you certainly won't. Your body will tell you whether it can take it or not. You just have to start to listen to it and respond to its needs."

Mick looked doubtfully at the professor but Beth felt that his reluctance began to crumble even if his anxiety didn't evaporate so easily.

"And you won't be alone," the professor added as his mouth and nose disappeared behind the edge of the cup.

"And you?" Mick turned to Josef with a frown on his face. "You have no objection if Beth and I run around out there alone?"

Josef looked briefly to the open door through which the rays of the morning sun were still falling and warming the wooden floor, and then shrugged. "This is the only farmhouse for miles," he said as he looked at his friend again. "I think there are no real dangers for you outside."

"I'm not speaking about foreign dangers," Mick reminded him a little bit disgruntled.

"Do you seriously think the vampire in you will stir while you walk around in the middle of the blazing sunlight," Josef said. "There is no better time for you to go for a walk."

Beth would have liked nothing better than to hug her friend as tightly as she could for this argument but she stopped herself as Josef wasn't a fan of exuberant physical contact. So she left it at a grateful smile.

Mick, however, had lost his appetite for the coffee. He put the cup back on the shelf and crossed his arms over his chest with a slightly petulant expression. He looked displeased from Josef to Peterson and then back to her. "How ... how long will the walk last?" he asked a bit gruffly.

"Just as long as you can endure it," she replied gently. She was lucky if he even took a few steps outside the door.

Mick was silent for a few seconds.

"Okay," he finally gave in and Beth's heart gave a little pleased jump.

"But if something is not right we will immediately come back here," Mick added quickly and she nodded eagerly. He took a deep breath and then straightened his knotted posture. "Then I'll go to my room to get my shoes," he said and began to move immediately.

Beth looked after him with a small smile and registered from the corner of her eye that she was not the only one.

"Now he's desperately searching for a way to get out of this," Josef said in a slightly amused tone. "I'm really curious ..."

"He won't get out of this," Beth responded resolutely and turned to Josef with a grin.  
"How did you do that?" he asked her with honest admiration in his voice. "He drank coffee, is in a relatively good mood and will get probably for the first time in ages some fresh air."

"Yes, that's really fantastic," Peterson agreed with him enthusiastically. "You have a true talent for animating him!" He added more quietly: "Especially when you consider how bad he has been mentally up to now. But be careful not to overtax him."

"I won't," Beth promised immediately. "I think a few minutes in the sun will do. It doesn't have to be a real walk."

"If you stay away for longer than an hour I'll send an armed search party after you," Josef threatened her. "You never know who you'll meet suddenly on your way and in an instant half the world is after you." He winked at her but she felt that to a certain extent there was genuine concern behind his cheerful tone.

"I promise faithfully to be back again as soon as possible," she said, then took a step towards Josef and hugged him briefly.

"Thanks," she said softly as she let go of him again.

"What for?" he asked with a puzzled frown.

"For your trust," she said giving him one more grateful smile and then turned away from the two men to go to her room to get herself ready for the walk.

"Wait ...," she heard Peterson address Josef in amazement, when she was already in the hallway. "Did you say he drank _coffee_?"


	30. Shady sides

_*__Posting day again! Here's the new chapter and I have to say that it's one of the longest in the whole story. At the German site I had to post it in two parts because it took me so long to write it. You have the luck that I just needed to translate it and now I can post it in the whole. Hope you like it, although it's not about Mick's and Beth's walk (therefore you have to wait until Thursday). I thank you a lot for your reviews again. I so need that feedback! And again a big hug for Jo, my beta. See you all at Thursday again, yours Jenna!* _

* * *

**S****hady sides**

I had liked the sun in the past. Not the same way as all the sun fanatics who traveled every year to tropical islands and lay in the hot sun's rays so long that they looked like freshly broiled lobsters and broke down in old age when their skin was corroded by black dermal cancer. No. But I _had_ liked the sun. It had been a wonderful feeling to turn my face to the warm rays for a few minutes, close my eyes and simply relax. The fact that I could still remember this feeling after all those years spoke volumes. I had more than just enjoyed it and sometimes I missed it.

I still liked the sun today as long as I wasn't exposed to it directly, of course. That my residence was in California was mainly linked to my business connections but also had something to do with the fact that at least I wasn't averse to the warmth and brightness of this state. As long as I could be in the shadows, had an air conditioner and a working freezer I was able to enjoy the beautiful weather, happy people and scantily dressed women who were, preferably, splashing about in my pool.

But here there was neither a pool nor scantily dressed women and I was almost certain I couldn't persuade Beth to wear a bikini from now on. There was only the sun that was almost aggressively burning down on me and which couldn't be avoided since leaving the security of the house. The few bushes and trees around me were too low to really provide any shade to escape the bright rays of the sun and I had left the barn behind me a long time ago. But because my target had come much closer by now I just hurried on across the dusty ground holding Logan's PC magazine above my head and concentrating on the thought that my visit to our hosts was absolutely necessary. No matter how stressful the walk to their house was, this visit couldn't be delayed any longer.

Two requests forced me to this lunacy: on one hand due to Beth's astoundingly successful motivational work and Mick's positive development I needed more food as Frank had emphasized explicitly how important it was to satisfy the basic needs of Mick's human side. And on the other hand I had remembered that Alejandro needed to know about the newest actions of the _Legion_ so that maybe he would be able to fill in some of my gaps in knowledge. It was important that I talked to him alone and I could only do this as long as Mick was too occupied with himself and Beth to be interested in the things I was organizing. Even though Alejandro and his family were also Mick's friends and he knew them even longer than me, there was one piquant detail in Alejandro's past we had both withheld from him. My friend's experiences during the last year had distinctly caused him to have a more and more explosive nature and the thought of it made me nervous, most of all because I was distinctly aware that the secret Alejandro and I were sharing could only stay a secret for a short period of time.

Memories welled up in me. Memories of the beginning of a chain of dramatic events no one would have predicted at the start. In the end they had freed three humans but had also led to the pain and the death of other humans. If I was honest with myself, I should have expected it, at least to some extent, when Mick had invited me to a meeting in that comfy little Mexican bar in the summer of 1984 just to ask me for a little favor concerning one of his new cases. His odd tone alone during our short talk on the phone should have made me suspicious. And the truth of the matter was that at that time I had so many negative experiences with Mick's suicide missions for the rescue of poor, helpless humans that it would have been better if I had stayed at home. But once again I had been hopelessly caught up in one of my decadent I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-my-life phases and had longed so desperately for change that I hadn't been able to resist Mick's terribly unimaginative bait: hot music, hard liquor and hot-blooded women.

_The bar I entered was not a big surprise to me. It was a typical Mick type bar; nice, cozy and had an atmospheric ambience with accosting music and cheerful guests. Among them were some really beautiful women who knew how to move smoothly with the rhythm of the music. Of course, I really didn't fit in here with my custom-made suit and the slightly arrogant line around my lips which had become automatic the moment I entered a room which was filled with many unknown people. It prevented unpleasant people from pestering me too quickly and along with my confident aura it inspired the necessary respect and distance I wanted._

_Inconspicuously I breathed in the smoke, alcohol and sweat which impregnated the air around me, sorted out the different smells within seconds and knew in the next moment what direction I needed to go to find Mick. He was the only vampire in the bar but even if that hadn't been the case I would have been able to distinguish his smell from all the others for there was no scent I was more acquainted with._

_Mick sat in a quiet corner at a long table and naturally wasn't alone but had four humans keeping him company. Two of them I didn't know, but I had met the other two before. On his right sat a young Mexican with a round, very soft face who was bent over the table laughing and telling a story. He was Mick's new blood supplier in the morgue and a professed vampire fan. His name was a bit weird, Gullivero or something like that. I knew from Mick that he wasn't very healthy and was toying with the idea of becoming a vampire._

_I was surprised when his young, beautiful sister who had been standing next to Mick now sat down on my friend's lap wearing an enticing smile. He gave her a look that was anything but harmless and turned clearly to her neck. If I hadn't known Mick well I would have thought that he was about to sink his fangs into her delicate neck at any moment; but Mick wasn't the type of vampire who laid hands on a living source of food in public. Not when there were other humans sitting there directly in front of him. However, there was something else in his gaze, something that was new in his relationship with Marisa and it didn't really please me: sexual interest._

_Of course, I had been delighted that with Marisa he had gotten himself a freshie again at last and I basically took the view that one could indeed amuse oneself with one's freshie in other ways but Mick wasn't like me. Since his turning he had never started anything with a human, hadn't even indulged himself in a short, hot affair not only because he was afraid to lose control and hurt or even kill his human partner but also because he knew himself much too well. In Mick's world sex and love were linked with each other very closely. Like every man he had had a few one night stands but very deep inside him despite his bad experiences with Coraline he was still searching for love and caring. Sexual interest in a human was something he usually forbade himself and so it indicated that he was about to fall in love. Marisa was beautiful, sexy and full of spirit and she had a mind on her own, a quality Mick appreciated. But she was a human and a romantic relationship with her was a really bad idea. Things like that didn't work and in the end just led to pain and remorse which I knew all too well from my own experiences. Apparently it was time again to take my friend aside and have a serious discussion._

_The other two people at the table I had never met before I could see from this distance that was shrinking with every step I took. They sat with their backs to me but as their arms were quite brown and their hair was thick and dark I assumed that they had also originally come from Mexico. But what I could see was that it was a couple. She was quite a dainty person with narrow shoulders and artificially pinned up hair while he was square-shouldered and for a Mexican quite tall. He had wrapped an arm around her shoulders and her head laid on one of his shoulders._

_Mick seemed finally to feel my presence and with slight difficulty he managed to detach his gaze from Marisa's neck and to meet my eyes. A delighted smile lit his face for a moment and the young woman on his lap also looked at me. She stood up quickly and hurried toward me._

"_Josef!" she beamed, threw her arms around my neck and hugged me heartily. Although in other special situations I exceedingly enjoyed the feeling of a woman's body pressing tightly into mine, usually such greeting ceremonies were rather my bête noire. For me, participating in them feels so wrong, so false because one doesn't like most people enough that one wants to touch them physically. _

_Nevertheless, I tried to smile and let Marisa pull me toward the table. Mick hid a smirk behind his hand as he knew my peculiarities too well. But it didn't cross his mind to free me from his freshie's claws. It wasn't that I didn't like Marisa, I had even introduced them, but sometimes she was a bit too pushy and dominant for my liking._

"_Josef, that's my dear cousin Alejandro Diego Rojas and his wife Isabella," she introduced the young couple to me. _

_I examined them briefly. They were quite a pretty couple: he was very clear-cut for his juvenile age with high cheekbones and dark but very warm eyes and she was unbelievably feminine with full lips, soft, almost classically beautiful features and big, deep eyes which were hiding deep misery behind a friendly smile. Very late I noticed that there was another person sitting at the table or rather on Isabella's lap, gawking at me with round, marveling eyes: a little boy about two years old. He owned Isabella's beautiful eyes, framed with long, dark lashes, his father's big nose and his pithy chin. He appeared astoundingly fearless and exposed his first teeth with a beaming smile that would cause many women to utter a rapturous squeak. Squeaking was not in my nature so I just looked at him furrowing my brows._

"_And that's Manolo," Marisa explained with pride as if she was introducing her own child to me. I noticed distinctly that she was watching my reaction to the little one and slowly it dawned on me that the favor Mick wanted to ask me for hadn't been just his idea but for the most part had been hers. And that innocent little boy was being used as leverage to melt my cold heart which led me to the presentiment that the favor had something to do with that little family._

"_You know my brother, Guillermo," she added and the young man looked at me anxiously and nodded heartily. I smiled back overly friendly and then looked at my best friend with raised brows. _

"_So, what is this about?" I asked directly before Marisa could bring any further syrupy guns in to soften me up. _

"_Why don't you sit down first?" Mick replied slightly amused, pulled the chair I was standing next to backwards and nodded toward its seat. _

_If I sat down now it could get quite difficult to get out of this whole thing. Mick was damn pigheaded and this time he wasn't alone. But hadn't I mourned just two days ago how uninteresting my life was at the present time?_

_I inhaled deeply and yielded to my fate._

"_My cousin and his family have quite a big problem," Guillermo addressed me to my amazement when my buttocks had barely touched the seat. "And since we couldn't help them we contacted Mick. And he said he could maybe help us if we can get you on board as well."_

_One could read from Mick's expression that he didn't like the young Mexican's choice of words for they might provoke a defensive attitude in me._

"_Wait, wait," I responded rapidly. "I'm really not a good sailor and anything but sea resistant." Metaphorical language was sometimes so wonderful… so many confused faces._

"_You just have to loose the lines and give the boat a little push."_

_Well, with Mick the tactic of causing confusion didn't work that well._

"_Isn't it enough when I stand on the jetty, waving? I should also smile nicely in doing so…," I offered in a friendly manner._

"_I can hardly force you to do anything else," Mick said seriously. "But maybe you could first listen to what this is all about."_

"_Sure. I'm all ears." I purposely looked only at Mick because I was aware he would give me the most exact and most important information._

"_Does the name Frederico Sanchez mean anything to you?" my friend asked me and really surprised me with that question._

_Frederico was a former business partner of mine and moreover quite an old vampire. I had broken off contact with him when I figured out that his business was moving in a direction that was becoming less than legal. Furthermore, he was one of the more radical, power-crazed vampires who, for some time past had rallied all other like-minded vampires around himself. He had stirred them up and was currently causing much turmoil in the ranks of the vampires in L.A. To say it clearly: he was a thorn in our flesh._

_Mick interpreted my silence as a 'Yes' and just went on: "He has gathered up a group of vampires around him, who call themselves 'Hijos de la luna' and are currently busy taking over control of the drug businesses and human trafficking on the national borders to Mexico."_

_That wasn't news to me but that Mick was so well informed about this surprised and frightened me at the same time. Over time Frederico's organization had developed mafia-like structures and I had wanted to keep Mick out of that whole story. That was a problem for the eldest vampires in our ranks not such young and inexperienced vampires as Mick._

"_And when I say human trafficking I'm not talking about the public form," Mick continued and I noticed this topic was really stirring him up. "They do that too, but all fugitives have to endure a blood test. If they have a rare blood type they are sold by auction to rich vampires, who can then do what they want with them. Did you know about that?"_

_The scrutinizing look Mick was giving me really annoyed me._

"_If you want to know if I have also bought such a 'slave' at an auction then ask me in a direct way, Mick," I demanded with audible anger in my voice._

"_Did you?" he probed instantly, as disrespectful as ever. He was the only one who was allowed to talk to me like that which, unfortunately, he knew all too well. _

"_No," I growled and noticed that Marisa tried to signal Mick with a look that he should stop. She was right because if you wanted to ask someone for a favor it wasn't such a good tactic to annoy him first. But Mick didn't seem to care. Our friendship had become so close that we treated each other more like brothers than like friends and this included directness and an occasionally harsh tone. _

"_Did you know about this?" Mick asked and his gaze told me clearly he actually just wanted confirmation of his own answer to that question._

"_There were a few rumors that went in that direction," I had to admit unwillingly. "But I didn't take them too serious." I took a deep breath as he paused. "Please don't tell me you feel called upon to take up the mission of freeing all humans from the hands of this organization."_

"_Not all," Marisa intervened and made clear to me that she and Mick weren't really in agreement as to what was to be done for Mick's look said something completely different. _

"_It's just about Alejandro and his family," the young woman added and now I looked at the other three humans to my left who I had been able to ignore completely up until now._

_Alejandro's eyes full of hope rested on my face while his wife was looking at the ground more abashedly. Manolo beamed at me again and reached out one of his pudgy, small hands for me as if he knew that this was about to motivate me to help them. His parents, however, didn't give the impression that they wanted to barge into our talk right now. Maybe they didn't understand our language._

"_Does this mean they got to L.A. with the help of the 'Hijos de la luna'?" I turned to Mick again and he nodded his approval. _

"_Alejandro got here one year ago," he explained. "He doesn't have a special blood type so they placed him somewhere as an undocumented worker and called upon him from time to time for some smaller illegal things. But then he secretly brought his wife and son here and this didn't go unnoticed."_

"_She has got blood type AB negative," Guillermo explained and I raised a brow in surprise. That was really one of the rarest of blood types in the world. "As has her son."_

_It didn't take a high degree of imagination to determine exactly what kind of catastrophe the young family had drifted into. And I slowly began to understand why Mick was so dedicated concerning this case. Someone wanted to hawk a mother and her child like cattle on a market and probably drain them. Even though I wasn't nearly as smitten with children as Mick was and most times the fate of the humans around me didn't interest me much, this drama didn't leave me cold. For Manolo's eyes were simply too big, his mother was too beautiful and his father was too desperate._

"_How long have the Hijos known about this?" I said directly to Alejandro in Spanish. He had looked at me the whole time with his sad, brown eyes that now showed a trace of joy in his face._

"_Since one week," he instantly answered in his vernacular. _

"_And they haven't tried to take your wife and son away yet?" I probed amazed. _

"_We fled when they came with their cars," the young man explained and his voice trembled slightly as if the fear still hadn't really left him yet. "Marisa took us to Mick."_

"_When?"_

"_Two days ago."_

"_You're not safe there," I responded and now looked at Mick again who made it clear with a nod of his head that he shared my opinion_

"_That's the reason why I called you," he enlightened me. "You're the only person in my circle of friends who has the ways and means to help somebody disappear in such a way that no one will be able to find him again."_

_Now all pair of eyes rested on me and I really began to feel a bit uneasy in my skin. I didn't want to be responsible for other people's luck and welfare. What happened if something went wrong and one of these humans died? Hope and thankfulness could quickly turn into anger and hate._

"_So you want me to eventually tangle with Frederico to save three people I don't even know if I can trust?" I purposely asked Mick._

_My friend bent a bit towards me and put a hand on my shoulder. "You should have more confidence in your own abilities," he said with one of those charming smiles. "You will certainly succeed in doing this without Frederico getting even a whiff of your presence."_

_I returned his smile as graciously as I was able to in this situation and then uttered a deep, heavy sigh. "Okay," I threw in my hand and could instantly hear several deep breaths of relief, "I'll see what I can do for you. But I will need a bit of time to get things underway. You should immediately change your lodging and not leave it until everything is organized."_

_Alejandro nodded hurriedly and to my amazement took my left hand in both his hands and pressed it fervently. "Thank you, thank you," he uttered with a choked voice in English and to my unease there were tears in his eyes. "My… my family is my life! I'll never forget this!"_

"_Never mind," I replied feeling awkward, and was really thankful when the young man let go of me and instead pulled his wife who was sobbing with relief into his arms encircling the little Manolo between them. I averted my gaze quickly and automatically stared into my best friend's warm eyes. To my great relief he spared me further emotional expressions of thankfulness and left it at another contented smile._

"_Mick told me you have a soft core," I heard Marisa say instead and I turned to her reluctantly. There were tears glistening also in her eyes and she looked as if she wanted to embrace me once more. "But I couldn't really believe it. Now it looks as if I need to…"_

"_Oh, no, no," I objected to her quickly. "I just needed a bit more variety in my life at the moment and this little game of cops and robbers has arrived at just the right time."_

_Like I hoped, Marisa now frowned, confused, and stopped her movement toward me as Mick's smile changed into an amused grin._

"_How about taking your sister and the others to my flat now and helping them pack their things?" Mick asked Guillermo, determined to protect me from further physical attacks and unpleasant emotional outbursts from his friends. The young man nodded willingly and stood up immediately as his sister was looking at Mick questioningly. _

"_I'll be right there," he added and looked at her urgently. After a few seconds of hesitation she nodded finally, stood up and turned to her relatives with a few short Spanish words. They appeared to still be very emotional, but nodded quickly and also rose from their seats._

"_I… I thank you so much," Alejandro uttered once again. "You're our savior… We really didn't know how to go on…"_

"_Yeah, no problem," I stifled him hastily, still trying for a friendly smile while in the background Isabella also began to thank me profusely in her mother tongue, wishing me a long, happy life. After some more tormenting minutes, Marisa and Guillermo finally succeeded in piloting the two of them away from the table and then out of the bar. I uttered an abyssal sigh of relief._

"_Was it really that awful?" Mick couldn't stop himself from asking me and my head shot around to him._

"_If you do something like that to me ever again, I swear I…," words failed me, "… I… I will force you to serve in my office as my personal assistant for one full day!" That was a hard punishment to give him based upon the fact that Mick hated to have to deal with office stuff._

_Nevertheless he gave a small laugh. "So we were really able to soften you up," he stated once more, amused and I screwed up my eyes to give him my most angry look._

"_I had no other choice," he excused his act with a smirk. "When you're sitting in your office you're always so distracted and when we meet privately you don't want to hear anything about my cases. Much less if it's about humans in need."_

"_Yeah, and with, as you've seen now, good reason!" I replied. "They instantly cling to your neck as if you're the only one who can help them and you can never get rid of them again!"_

"_Oh, in this case you will," Mick contradicted me. "That's exactly the point here."_

_I looked at my hands for a moment and had to inhale deeply again. "I cannot promise that it'll work," I had to tell him now. "Frederico and his friends are dangerous and well organized and I'm really not interested in tangling with them." Even less than usual for I knew there was another group that already had made it their business to watch the 'Hijos de la luna' and to find out who belonged to them in order to then take the final swipe at them._

"_So you want to let him go on striking terror into people's hearts?" Mick asked the question I had been afraid of since the very beginning of our conversation. "He's enslaving and killing people, Josef!" he reminded me of this man's wrongs. "And he's inciting other vampires against you and many of your friends! He thinks that vampires are meant to rise up into the higher circles of politics and society and in the end to dominate the whole world! He's a total megalomaniac!"_

"_You can cut out the 'megalo'," I said emotionless and completely detached. "I really don't like to admit it but unfortunately there are vampires among us who are off their rockers. You're right about that but it's not your job to take care of such matters."_

"_Whose job is it then?" _

_Oho, now we came close to a domain I actually didn't want Mick to get involved with. I really had to be careful so as to not set off an avalanche that no one would be able to stop and which could possibly bury my best friend beneath it. _

"_Properly speaking; the old vampires here in L.A.," I responded shortly._

"_That means _you_ care about it?" The skeptical glance he cast at me offended me a bit although there was some justification for it. Currently, my 'caring' had confined itself to simple things like observation and the collecting of information. I hadn't really seen a need for action although it had always been clear to me that we would someday be forced to do something. So it had been useful to me all the more when suddenly this human organization had stepped in to clear up this problem for good. In fact they were quite thorough as far as I could see from my observations. But I could hardly tell Mick about that for he didn't even know that there was a human organization that knew about vampires and at certain times took quite ruthless action against us. Nevertheless I nodded slightly after a small delay. _

"_Okay," he said and bent towards me with both arms propping himself up on the table. "So, what are we doing?"_

_I contracted my brows irritated. "I actually thought I've said this before but for you I'm willing to repeat it again: '_We'_ are doing nothing, Mick!" I replied firmly. "I'll help you to get your friends out of harm's way and then I want you to settle back in your armchair and to forget about Frederico Sanchez!"_

_For a while Mick just scrutinized me. "If _you_ keep him in mind in return I have no problem with doing that," he said and his stare got even more intense._

"_I will," I responded calmly. "Because I know that if I don't you'll probably be a pain in my neck concerning this thing on a day-to-day basis."_

_Mick's lips curled up into an awfully nice smile. "Hour-to-hour," he corrected me and I knew I couldn't challenge his word. Hard times were coming to me._

The main building was in a much better state then our own domicile, freshly painted, intact and surrounded by colorful flowerbeds which were in complete contrast to the surrounding barren landscape. There were colored curtains in the windows. And the veranda where someone had installed a cozy sitting area with a garden swing was decorated with flower boxes and other plants. Here one could clearly see a woman's creative mind, one with enough time and leisure to craft this little piece of home around her lovingly.

I heaved a sigh of relief when I had climbed the three stairs of the veranda and was able to dive into the restful chill of the shade the small roof provided. The short walk through the sun had taken much strength from me although it was still very early in the morning and the intensity of the sunrays was rather frail. It caused a slight hunger in me despite the extensive breakfast I had and this was not good for a talk with a human.

The growl I heard the next moment didn't come from my stomach or from one of my other organs though. The entrance door wasn't closed and behind the screen door that belonged to every house in this area appeared the broad head of a quite big shepherd dog who had fixed his amber eyes on my face. I didn't really like dogs. That wasn't just due to the fact that I regarded them as dirty, stinking, drooling predators with teeth that were able to kill or at least leave bad, painful wounds. The more important reason was that I had been chased by a pack of such beasts several times in my long life, naturally at the behest of a murderous mob of humans. You don't forget such experiences quickly no matter how many years have passed. That was the reason I didn't feel comfortable under the gaze of this dog although I knew him and also knew that his growling wasn't related to aggression but to great joy which was confirmed by the following whimper and the happy wagging of his tail.

'Monster' as this animal was fittingly called was virtually besotted with vampires. To blame for this was a vampire who had saved him once from death by starvation and had fed him up over a month before the dog had found a new home here. That was the reason why he loved the smell of vampires and met most of them with joy and a loud greeting ritual. That they could also be a danger to him the silly animal absolutely refused to see and he seemed to understand it less with each meeting although I didn't greet him as happily as he did me. Fortunately this time there was a screen door between us which kept him from instantly pouncing on me.

Steps resounding from the inside of the house told me this state would immediately change. It was Manolo who walked toward the door lost in thought and opened the door without registering that I was standing on the veranda. The colossus of a dog uttered a happy whimper and with one leap was in front of me and on his hind legs. I threw my arms in front of my face and did a step to the side so as to not lose my balance, praying inwardly that the tyke kept my clothes at least half-way intact. His huge tongue ran over my arms and everywhere else that it was able to reach quickly while he dug his blunt claws into my chest in order to not lose his hold on me.

"Monstruo!" Manolo called upset. "Para! Siénta-te! Siénta-te!"

The commands alone weren't enough and the young Mexican had to grab his dog's collar and pull with all his might to free me from his claws. The soft rasping sound of my shirt went right through me and when I was free again I noticed a thin rip in the lower part of the silky shirt, one a good tailor could certainly patch, but to me this sight was really painful. Even Manolo's joyful face and hearty hug above the still flouncing dog between us couldn't really comfort me. But I put a good face on the matter, patted the young man's back and forced a smile.

"I was just about to pay you a visit," he beamed at me. "I hear Mick is much better now?"

I nodded and my smile got a bit more serious. The thing with Mick had hurt the whole family quite a bit and my firm words and the distinctly articulated prohibition of contact had been enough to keep theses humans from visiting us on the first day of our arrival and to offer their help. Now that they knew the worst problems were over and that most dangers were defeated, it wasn't surprising that Manolo, above all, felt the urge to see Mick.

"You'll probably not find him in the house," I told him. "Perhaps he's taking his first walk today." My goodness, did I really sound like a proud father whose son was taking his first steps? If I was honest, it felt almost like that to me. Scary!

Manolo gave me a broad grin. "That's… that's really great," he said. "Do you know where he was planning to go?"

I looked at him pensively for an instant and asked myself if it was really a good idea to let them meet. It was indeed possible that the sight of Manolo might awaken several beautiful memories but also pictures which might upset and depress Mick.

"No, not really," I replied with some hesitation. "But, please, don't search for him. He still needs a lot of rest to recover fully."

The disappointment my words brought was shown so clearly in Manolo's eyes that I felt almost sorry for him, but he nodded understandingly in the end.

"Then we will just do our usual rounds," he said far less enthusiastically than before and patted Monster's head who was still staring at me with big eyes and a dangling tongue, waiting for the moment when his master's hold around his collar would loosen a bit.

"Is your father at home?" I asked Manolo while I slowly moved out of the reach of this colossus and opened the screen door.

"Yeah, he's preparing lunch with my mother," the boy responded and now visibly had to struggle with his dog who seemingly didn't want to let me go. He had leaped to his feet and was leaning into his collar with such might that Manolo was forced to take some unwilling steps toward me. But I was faster, slipped through the door and shut it directly before the nose of the animal. The glance the dog cast at me was almost indignant. For a moment he eyed me ungraciously, then turned around with a dash and didn't deign to look at me again as he left the veranda with his master.

I shook my head and again sadly viewed the damage this beast had done. The thought that there were still a few more of these shirts in my room comforted me a bit. Then I started on my way toward the kitchen. Isabella loved it colorful. Almost every room of this house had been painted in a different color and the walls were decorated with self- made and very tasteful paintings. Over the years Isabella had become a serious and very talented artist. Mick had bought some of her works for his apartment and I also owned several of her works. But due to her situation, most times she was forced to exhibit and sell them under an alias which was quite frustrating for her. But she was still at her current age a buoyant, active woman who didn't get herself worked up so easily and her home radiated that.

I hadn't been here that often over the years but the few times I had visited our human friends had been enough to memorize the most important things. I owned quite a good memory and an equally outstanding sense of direction so that I was able to find the kitchen without any problems. Already in the corridor I could hear the cheerful voices of the two of them. Her laughter caused me to lose my displeasure. The Rojas were markedly warmhearted, good people who were able to find their way in almost any situation of their lives and to enjoy all the small things life offered them. And they were able to share this attitude toward life with the other people who were at their side.

The two humans didn't flinch when I entered the room but welcomed me with beaming smiles quickly followed by hearty embraces. I had become so used to that kind of greeting that I even felt comfortable with it. Really amazing…

"We assumed that it would be you," Alejandro said. "Monster was so agitated and dashed off so quickly that we knew it could only be you or Mick. And as Mick isn't that healthy at the moment…"

"You should teach your dog someday that vampires are not really the right company for animals," I replied seriously but Alejandro just laughed.

"Oh, he does differentiate," Isabella explained smiling. "He's much more intelligent than he looks and feels in his bones who's good and who's bad. He can get very nasty."

I wanted to look at her skeptically but just at that moment I remembered that on his last visit Monster had snarled quite angrily at Lance and had given the impression that he wanted to attack him. Maybe I had misjudged the dog.

"It's great that you're here," Alejandro said with sincere affection in his eyes and grabbed one of the chairs at the little kitchen table to pull it backwards for me. "Please, sit down," he invited me instantly and I obliged.

"I think there's much to talk about," he added while I sat down.

"That's true," I agreed with him.

"How's Mick really doing?" Isabella sat down opposite me with great concern in her eyes and I gave her a smile. She was still a beautiful woman although a few hard lines had formed around her eyes and the corners of her mouth and her dark hair was interspersed with grey wisps. But in her big, dark brown eyes gleamed the same fire, the same energy that had been there twenty-five years ago.

"He's really much better than before," I enlightened the two. "Every day he recovers a bit more and I think the odds that he'll be his old self once again are in his favor."

"You shouldn't have taken his girl away," Isabella said in an almost reproachful voice and surprised me with her knowledge. "You should realize that men are in fact hopelessly lost without us women and even more so when they are feeling bad emotionally."

"Daniel has told us what he knows every time he comes here to rest and eat something," Alejandro explained smirking. He hadn't missed my bafflement. "That way we were at least informed as to who was brought here and who was flown out again."

I considered for a moment if I had to take my pilot to task next time I saw him but decided against it. Our hosts actually had a right to know what was happening on their farm and I was sure that under most circumstances Daniel was usually as silent as a grave.

"When will the other vampires come back?" Alejandro used my silence to bring up one of the more important subjects.

"In about two weeks," I responded. "But that can change abruptly as I think it may correlate with what the Legion does in the following weeks. If the pressure gets to be too much our 'friends' will most likely come here much earlier."

Alejandro nodded thoughtfully and the line between his brows got even deeper. "We're all set for that in any case."

I looked at him keenly. "I hope you mean for an escape."

"Of course," my friend replied without hesitation and that puzzled me.

"No matter what happens I don't want you to interfere!" I said strictly. "A lot of vampires will appear here and I want you to stay in the house and lock your doors. And if the situation escalates you're to disappear from here as quickly as possible!"

Again Alejandro reacted with a nod of his head. But this time he couldn't really persuade me that he meant it. My old friend wasn't a person who liked to obey commands and I was sure he had made his own plans long ago.

"Aside from that you should also not visit us," I went on. "The house is already full of vampires and Mick…" I searched for the right words. "… let's just say that in his role as a vampire he's not quite all here yet."

"Then he's really that?" Isabella looked at me with wide eyes. "I mean both, a vampire _and_ a human?"

"Yes," I admitted without mincing matters. "But he can't really cope with it right now."

"How did they do this?" Alejandro asked bewildered.

"It's quite complicated," I replied evasively. "Maybe I'll send Frank over to you and he can explain it but right now there's no time for that."

"Did… did Mick tell you anything about it?" Isabella stayed with the unpleasant questions. "I mean… how he had been? What they did to him?"

This time I shook my head and Alejandro looked at his hands abashed.

"His hatred of the Legion must be boundless," he added quietly to his wife's words. I knew exactly what he was aiming at and preferred to remain silent.

For a while there was awkward silence between us then Isabella uttered a deep sigh.

"We have to tell him!" she managed to say with an astoundingly firm voice and Alejandro looked at her almost as scared as I was.

"No!" he said almost in panic. "Not now! Later! Much later!"

"But… but what if he finds it out on his own?!" Isabella called agitated. "What do you think will happen then?! Maybe everything will get much worse!"

"No, Isabella," I interfered with raised voice. "Your husband is right you cannot tell him about it now. He's much too unstable. Even though this all happened so many years ago and you don't have anything to do with the things that happened to him, I'm afraid it would upset him terribly."

"Yes, because we lied to him, we betrayed him!" Isabella flared up and in her eyes tears were glistering. "He doesn't deserve this! He deserves sincerity and…"

"But not now!" I cut in harshly. "If you tell him now what you did in the past you'll destroy the little bit of joy of living he has developed in the last hours! Do you want that?"

Isabella dropped her gaze and now tears were running down her cheeks. "I'm so ashamed that my name can be linked to such people, that I was really convinced of the ideals of those people once and that I thought they did a good thing."

"Isabella…" Alejandro took her hand and pressed it. "You only stumbled into that because I was so silly."

"You can't change it," I stepped in helpfully. "It's important that that time has passed and maybe we will be able to use the knowledge and connections that your former membership provides us."

"Oh, God, please, Josef, don't say it like that," Alejandro replied with tormented facial expression. "It sounds as if the Legion is a nice little club you can join and leave whenever you want to."

Of course Alejandro was right. The _Legion_ was anything but a harmless club. Although this organization knew how to camouflage itself and to hide, I now knew that it had arisen originally in the course of the Inquisition, in the early 13th Century, and had grown gradually so that it now owned small branch offices almost everywhere in the world. Utmost discretion, working in secrecy and an incredibly good organization had secured this group's survival, despite some struggles with vampire counter movements over the centuries. The people who joined this organization bound themselves to serve it for the rest of their lives. There was no possibility of withdrawal, not if you wanted to stay alive. Alejandro had experienced this firsthand. Compared to the _Legion_ Frederico Sanchez was just a schoolboy who pinched protection money. And that is when the whole deception to Mick had started.

Alejandro and his family had indeed been on the run in 1984 and, yes, even the _Hijos de la Luna_ had been a threat to them and had been on their heels, but Alejandro had been most afraid of his own former comrades. He still hid from them today.

The then young man had been recruited for the_ Legion_ at the tender age of 16 years by an acquaintance. His father had been a priest in a strict Catholic Church and with increasing age had become more and more fanatical and crazy. For example, he had performed drastic exorcisms on some young girls and had firmly believed that it was the job of every Christian to track down the demons of this world and destroy them. So it had been no wonder that Alejandro, like any other boy, absolutely wanted to please his father and so had been very receptive to the values and ideals of the _Legion_ and soon had gone vampire hunting as an active member of one of its cells. He was athletic, smart and energetic and quickly worked his way up to a leading position as one of the commanders there. But his intelligence and his soft side which he'd often had to deny on his missions made it more and more difficult for him to do this work. He started to take an interest in the beasts that he hunted. He made inquiries without permission and very soon realized that behind the vampire myth rather human beings were hidden. This by no means fit into the drawer of the obsessive, vicious demons the _Legion_ always liked to pull out. What bothered him even more were the cult-like, fanatical structures and laws within the _Legion_ and the extreme pressure that was put upon each one of them under threat to their own lives. Soon it dawned on him that he had joined an organization which believed that it represented the good side and had to defend it, but in actual truth it served abysmal evil.

In the light of this knowledge and due to a key experience in 1982 Alejandro decided to dare the seemingly impossible and to leave the _Legion_. Of course, he had realized after all these years that he would sign his own death warrant with that decision and so had developed over the span of a year a clever plan to make himself and his family of three years disappear forever. The mission given to him to get into the hands of the _Hijos de la luna _in order to spy on this group and give the _Legion_ the opportunity to destroy these vampires came in useful to him. If the focus was on him and his work he could first bring his family and then himself to safety. Anyhow, that had been the plan. But in some strange way the _Legion_ had gotten wind of his plans and two weeks before he had been able to put his plan into action his 'friends' surprised him by bringing his wife and child into his new home and advised Sanchez of the arrival of this family. The revenge of the _Legion_ would be cruel and Alejandro's family would be erased by the beings with whom he sympathized. But by some miracle the family managed to escape just in time and to seek help. Alejandro knew at that time that his cousins had close contact to other vampires and he knew as well that in a fight against vampires and vampire hunters there were no better allies than other, strong vampires. And so Mick and I fell right between the lines.

Due to some negative experiences I had always been leery, particularly of humans. I had noticed that something was wrong when Alejandro once noted in a desperate situation that everything would not make any sense anyway because they would probably find him anywhere in this world. I was immediately clear to me that he was not talking about Frederico and his gang because that man wasn't that powerful. Furthermore, due to my innate mistrust I had already accumulated some information about Mick's client and had come across a few contradictions and inconsistencies in his curriculum vitae. In addition, the fanatical father in the background gave me a pain in my insides. Because of that, it was not long until I had figured out everything and in a quiet moment without Mick present had made Alejandro confess to his membership in the _Legion_. I was immediately overcome by the strong desire to kill him, but the memories of his son's big brown eyes and his honest remorse persuaded me otherwise and prompted me to make a deal with him instead: Lifetime protection in exchange for lifetime information concerning the _Legion_.

And so a few years later when Alejandro came up with the idea of creating an organization that made it possible for other affected people to escape the compulsory membership of the _Legion_ it fulfilled my desire to continue to increase my knowledge about what was going on in this organization. That Alejandro made amends to humanity by also helping victims of other dubious associations, as I had heard, very successfully, to escape and start a new life somewhere didn't really concern me. His connection to the other former members of the _Legion_ was the only important thing to me.

Alejandro ripped me out of my memories with a heavy sigh. "My grandfather once told me that the shady sides of life will always catch up with you," he said in a low voice. "And there are mistakes you cannot make up for, no matter how hard you try."

"You can not _wipe out_ what has happened," I corrected him. "But the amends you've made in recent years should ease your conscience a bit."

"No," my mortal friend replied, shaking his head. "I ... I should have done more. I should have fought more actively against the Legion, and perhaps even published what I know about them."

"Nobody would have believed you," I interrupted him.

"But I should have tried it," he said agitated. "Then ... then they maybe would have become more cautious." He looked sadly at his hands which he had clenched into fists out of sheer emotion. "Maybe they would have left Mick alone then."

"And maybe now you'd be dead," I added seriously.

"Better dead than a year in the hands of those mad scientists," he replied quietly, and I noticed distressed that now he was fighting back tears. I didn't have any idea that he blamed himself so much for the things that had happened to Mick or that he felt so guilty or I would have certainly visited the two of them a lot sooner.

Now it was Isabella's turn to lay a hand on her husband's and caress the skin that had become rough by the hard work on the farm with her thumb while she looked at him full of compassion.

"The fact that you once were one of them doesn't automatically make you one of the perpetrators," I tried to take a little of the load off his shoulders.

Alejandro raised his gaze and looked at me sadly with his now red-rimmed eyes. "Mick will see that differently," he said softly.

"No," I replied calmly. "Not if we give him enough time to recover. If he's himself again, at least halfway, he'll understand it."

"He'll want to take revenge," Alejandro said as if he had not really listened to me. "There must be so much hatred and anger inside him, so much despair and revenge is a good valve. He will pounce on anyone who had been even remotely involved with the Legion, Josef."

I didn't know what to reply to that. In his normal vampire state Mick had always been a person who, despite his temperament, had his aggression and anger well under control to a certain point. The vampire's slower circulation of blood was indeed very helpful for that. But if that point was crossed once, he could nearly explode, which also meant that he became a deadly weapon. In his present condition, the dimensions of such an emotional explosion would rival a natural disaster.

"At some point he'll calm down and became his old self again," I replied, looking intently at Isabella. "We shouldn't tell him before then!"

The Mexican finally nodded and ran the back of her hand over her tear-stained face. "All right," she said, "but such secrets need to be aired out. Otherwise they will destroy us one day."

"I know," I agreed with her. "But until then we still have much to do. And in some respects, especially when it comes to the machinations of the Legion, I need your help."

Alejandro nodded and got to his feet. "I ... I've gathered a few things for you," he said. "Wait a moment."

I looked at him thoughtfully as he disappeared from the kitchen, but then I turned back to Isabella. "What about Manolo?" I asked hesitantly. "Does he know about everything?"

She shook her head sadly. "He still believes that we hide from a Mexican criminal organization. He wouldn't understand."

I had guessed that Alejandro's guilty conscience was not only due to Mick. Like my best friend, Manolo had a bad temper, an extreme sense of justice and was very intelligent. With a little help on my part he was studying law under a false name at the University of L.A. and was here only because he had unfortunately gained knowledge of our flight and of Mick's fate. It was not inconceivable that he would react to his father's confession with anger and contempt no matter how much he loved him; it wasn't easy to cope with this in relation to Mick's suffering.

"He likes Mick so dearly," Isabella added and I had to agree with her inwardly.

It is said that traumatic experiences could establish close ties between the people who went through it together and Mick's relationship with Manolo and Beth confirmed that. Both had been saved by him as children and both had a deep trust in him and an incredible tenacity concerning staying in contact with him. Manolo's spatial separation, however, made this extremely difficult for him. But as far as I knew he had regularly contacted Mick over the years at least by phone and later also via the Internet. The contact had never been broken off and there had also been some personal encounters when we had been invited to birthday parties or other celebrations. The last meeting was quite a while ago and explained Manolo's need to finally see his old friend again and to interact with him.

"Speaking of Mick," I tried to turn the topic into a slightly more pleasant direction. "My friend slowly develops a healthy appetite and that's why I wanted to ask you if you might not..."

"But of course," Isabella said delighted before I had even finished my sentence. The relief about the change of subject was clearly written into her face. "What do you need?"

I shrugged my shoulders a little hesitant. My last meal was over three hundred and seventy years ago and I really had no idea what humans ate today or _could_ eat. "I think it's probably best that things should have an intense but good taste."

"Home-made jam?" she asked beaming and immediately started toward the cellar door which was just around the corner in the hallway. "And I've just baked fresh bread this morning! You can also have some of that," I heard her say as she was on her way down the stairs. Alejandro then appeared in the kitchen with a pile of papers and files in his arms which he put onto the table directly in front of me.

"When you told me on the phone that the Legion had already been conducting experiments on vampires for a long time I searched through my old files once again and in fact made a find," he said as he sat down next to me. "Also, I've spoken to a few other contacts and came across further interesting findings."

He opened one of the files and pulled out some papers on which a few passages had been highlighted with a text marker. "There have been, or, more likely, still _are_ labs owned by the Legion spread throughout the whole world where they..." He had to clear his throat to speak again and avoided eye contact with me showing how uncomfortable the whole topic seemed to be for him. "They... they are testing there the latest weapons to be used in the fight against vampires."

"And they test them also on vampires." It was more a statement than a question on my part but Alejandro nevertheless felt obliged to nod.

"I suppose that they have been doing this since the first day the Legion existed," he added anxiously. "Otherwise they would never have been so successful over the years and would never have been so effective."

I swallowed bravely the anger boiling in me. "And the things they did to Mick?"

"This is something new," Alejandro responded immediately. "There was nothing like that before. Even in the ranks of the Legion it had been kept quite secret up to now."

"How did you get these files?" I asked frowning, and took one of the somewhat faded documents in my hands to flip through it quickly.

"About six years ago I helped this unit commander to clear out," my friend said quickly. "One part of our agreement was that he gave me as much information about the structures of the Legion as he could get."

"I vaguely remember it," I replied thoughtfully. "He explained to us the matter with the cells and the contact men."

"Exactly," Alejandro agreed, "but the man who contacted me yesterday seems to know a whole lot more."

My head jerked up and I stared at him, speechless for an instant. "You have been contacted by someone from the Legion?"

"I think he's on the side which is currently being hunted and eliminated by their own people," said Alejandro with his typical calmness which stood in stark contrast to my own feelings. "Those who gave Mick a grilling…"

Bloodlust drove into my chest like a flaming sword. "What's his name?" I muttered through clenched teeth. Alejandro contracted his eyebrows broodingly. Nonetheless, he answered to me although he didn't seem to like the expression in my eyes.

"Paul Ritchcroft."

The name meant nothing to me.

"He didn't reveal a lot," my friend added, declaring. "He was much too afraid but when I threatened to break off contact he confided some interesting things to me."

I said nothing, only looked at Alejandro invitingly.

"You know that the Legion is so difficult to discover because, similar to terrorist organizations, it is subdivided into many smaller cells that have no contact to each other or to the leadership," Alejandro began his explanation, and I just nodded again. "The simple reason for this is that if they get busted they're not able to give important information, especially names to their enemies. Only the commander has contact with the cell block colonel who commands four cells, and who again is subordinate to just one other superior person and so on. If one cell is busted, the Legion only needs to dispose of the cell commander or in the worst case, the block colonel and the problem is already solved."

This was not new to me as it was precisely at this point that our attempts to get some information about the supreme leaders of the Legion had always failed. Every man we had been able to catch had only been able to tell us a maximum of one name and the owner of this name had always been dead when we had been able to locate him. So far we had only been able to scratch the bottom edge and could avenge ourselves only on the infantry.

"But the rift which now goes through the Legion runs right up into the top leadership," Alejandro explained almost enthusiastically. "This time it has crashed somewhere at the top and in such a way that the crack can't be caulked and now the people who are on the run have an incredible amount of information including many of the names of the higher ups!"

"And this Paul ...?"

Alejandro leaned in to me conspiratorially. "He was responsible for all operations in the southwestern states. He has regularly participated in meetings of the operation leaders and in turn knows the names of some people from the top leadership."

"And he'll tell you the names if you help him?" I asked doubtfully.

"Restricted," Alejandro had to admit. "There are a couple of friends he wants to protect."

I gave off a scornful laugh. "How fast he will forget these friends if it comes to his own survival."

"In any case, he was not only in the Legion probably aspiring to great heights," Alejandro continued. "But he was also engaged in politics and the personal assistant of a prospective senator."

I looked at him in alarm. "Which senator?"

"The guy who was involved in the fraud scandal last year. What was his name...," Alejandro wrinkled his forehead, thinking deeply.

"Harald Jefferson?" I asked quietly and Alejandro's eyes flashed with joy.

"Yes, that's it!"

My thoughts immediately began doing somersaults and I could no longer sit in my chair. The energy that captured my body at that moment had to be let out in some way.

"I need to see that man," burst out of me and I raised a hand and ran it through my hair as I walked to the door and then immediately turned around again.

My Mexican friend followed me with his eyes slightly confused about my violent reaction. "When?"

"Now! Immediately!" I blurted out even though I knew that this was utter nonsense and unfeasible.

"He's not going to get in touch with me until tomorrow," Alejandro tried to break it to me gently. "And he doesn't really trust me yet. It will be difficult to persuade him to meet personally with us."

"The Legion is in panic and, therefore, much faster and deadlier than usual," I replied impatiently. "If he doesn't meet us he will be soon a dead man!"

"The way I see it, he'll also be dead _if_ he meets with us," Alejandro noted hesitantly and I turned to him with a scowl.

"All I want is to finally get from him to the top leadership of this assemblage of criminals," I snapped at him.

"That means you won't try to kill him if you get everything you want?"

This really was a nasty trick, and my hesitation alone was enough for Alejandro to see through me.

"Josef, even though I can understand your hatred and I'm thirsting for revenge for Mick as much as you are, I have my principles," the Mexican said as emphatically as possible. "When I make a deal with one of my clients, I adhere to it! If he wants to stay alive for the information we're receiving from him then I will make sure of that by all available means! No matter what he has done before, my own feelings need to be pushed back and in this case yours do, too!"

I had to really think about what he said. My thirst for vengeance was quite strong and this Paul seemed to be one of the masterminds of the actions taken toward Mick. Could I really hold back my hatred enough that I didn't cause a quarrel with Alejandro? Could I meet the man without darting at him and lacerating him? Did I have enough self-control to forget for a while what had been done to Mick?

I knew that I had to decide basically between two things: Either to take revenge for Mick and all the other vampires who had died miserably due to the experiments in the laboratories, or to take the chance to finally get the names of the supreme chiefs of the Legion and eventually destroy this organization forever.

I gritted my teeth and finally nodded in agreement. It gave me a lot of trouble, but I was serious about that nod, it was the promise to acquiesce to Alejandro's wishes. "If you can arrange a meeting for tomorrow with that man I swear that I will spare him," I added, reluctantly and Alejandro sighed with relief. He apparently had braced himself for a fight with me.

A rumbling noise from the basement stairs told me that Isabella was coming back with the food and the next moment she appeared in the doorway carrying a nearly filled wooden box. Her cheeks were red from the effort but her eyes were gleaming with joy.

"I think that this will give Mick a lot of energy," she laughed not registering that her husband and I were still quite tense, and with a little effort heaved the heavy box onto the table. I approached her now a bit curious. My eyes flew over the bread, the vegetables, homemade cheese and sausages and many other groceries and my lips curled up into an amused grin despite the inner turmoil that didn't want to let go of me.

"I think with this you can even feed a sick elephant," I said mischievously.

Alejandro gave a small laugh, stepped up to his wife and pressed a gentle kiss to her rosy cheek.

"No matter what situation we are in you manage again and again to make my world a little bit brighter," he said tenderly, and I could only agree with him. Sometimes only the smallest gestures in life were of the greatest importance. Sometimes a tiny light was enough to drive the darkest shadows away.


	31. Moments

_*__You wanted Mick's and Beth's walk – here it is! Hope you'll like it. A big 'Thank you!' to M-Freak, who translated this chapter a while ago and to SG6169, who was the beta reader for this chapter. You're simply great and really a big support! Also a lot of thanks to all of you, who have given me feedback and make me go on with translating and writing. Feel hugged. I think I'll be back at Sunday again and really hope to get some new feedback until then. I'm really anxious to hear if you liked this chapter. Best wishes, yours Jenna!* _

_Edit: This capter was strongly influenced by the beautiful song 'Every little thing' by Dishwalla  
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**M****oments**

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_"__Every beautiful moment is a pearl, which we slide onto the necklace of our life. And every glistening moment of happiness, which we are enjoying, makes our necklace a little bit more precious."_

_(Jochen Mariss)_

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When Beth came back to the living room, Mick wasn't yet back, of course. But that didn't surprise her, not after he had shown clearly, with which fears concerning their walk he had to fight. Instead of him Peterson was more laying than sitting straightly on the couch, holding another steaming cup of coffee in both hands and stared absently at the wall in front of him, caught in his own world of thoughts.

Beth stood in the entrance of the room for a moment and cast a glance down the corridor. After a half minute, when nothing had moved, she decided to take a seat next to the professor, for there were a few important things regarding Mick she had to discuss with him. And maybe it was good that he wasn't there.

Peterson woke up from his half-trance with a jerk, when she took a seat next to him on the couch, and then he straightened himself with a sheepish smile.

"Did… did you say something?" he asked, and blinked a few times to shoo away his tiredness.

Beth shook her head with a light smile and the professor breathed out in relief.

"I don't feel very well today," he explained. "Although I slept relatively well…" He hesitated. "But you didn't sit down next to me, because you wanted to know something about my sleeping behavior, right?"

Beth laughed quietly. "No, it's about…"

"…Mick. I know," the old man smiled and this time Beth nodded.

"You want to know, if that, what you are doing currently, is also okay with regard to the medical aspects," he read her mind.

"Is it?" she just asked and to her joy his smile got brighter.

"You're a blessing for him," he said full of thankfulness. "Since you are back, he has made more progress than in the whole of last week. Keep going like that and in two weeks we'll have no more problems at all, when this vampire-delegation arrives."

"No prohibitions and restrictions?" Beth gave him a searching look and Peterson was thinking about that.

"I think he's careful enough at this moment and I don't have to give him prohibitions to scare him further," he said. "As far as I can judge, with the limited medical instruments here, he's almost physically healthy. And the last hematopoietic had shown that his vampire hormone level balances are not that bad with the human one. In principle he can build up his physical fitness and use it like everyone else."

"When was the last time he drank blood?" Beth had to know that, because she would be alone with Mick outside. It was safer to know if the vampire was well provided or if she had to take a few bags of blood along just for safety.

"Two days ago," was the calm answer and Beth raised her brows in astonishment.

"Doesn't he have to have it every day?"

"As long as his hormonal balance is normal he doesn't seem to need it," said the professor, and his own enthusiasm seemed to wake him. "He is so much better than before. He doesn't show any indication of blood thirst or turmoil and actually it has to be like that if everything develops like I hoped it would. That's exactly one of the aims I worked for: that he doesn't have to drink any blood as long as he isn't forced to turn into a vampire. And the lesser Mick needs blood, the longer he can stay without it, the closer he will get to this aim."

"Does that mean that he won't need to drink any blood someday?" Beth asked unbelieving. It was hard for her to imagine a miracle like that.

"When someday his body is able turn off the negative effects of the vampire hormones, he won't need to," he told with happy, sparkling eyes. "Wouldn't that be fantastic?"

Of course it would but that sounded so… so unreal. Was it really possible to gain such an advantage after this bad time?

Beth closed her eyes for a moment and shook herself inside for not getting lost in this thought. 'Focus on the present, Turner, and don't dwell on some visionary future dreams!'

"Okay, let's just stick with the human Mick in the here and now," she said after a moment of reflection. "Can he eat and drink what he wants to?"

"I think so," Peterson said optimistically. "But he shouldn't carry it too far. His stomach first has to slowly become accustomed to being used again and we don't want him to choke everything out that he has just eaten. So, no rich things at the beginning and just small servings - even if it'll be hard for him."

Beth just nodded understandingly. "And can he walk around?"

"Wonderful," Peterson smiled. "Shoo him out. He _needs _to check out his body and start to exercise. And he needs to lose energies. Maybe then the turnings will decrease. But don't forget: Slowly and increasing just step by step. We shouldn't risk a circulatory collapse."

"I will watch out," she promised and leaned back on the couch. Now that she got the blessing from the doctor for her actions, she felt almost better and more self-confident than before. She looked through the room. Speaking of self-confident…

"Where is Josef?" she asked Peterson frowning.

"I think he's visiting our hosts," the doctor explained.

"He's out _there_?" she showed to the opened door, through which the bright light of day was falling into the room, and she observed astonished that Peterson nodded. Vampires usually avoided direct sunlight, so the things to be done had to be very important. Beth wondered, what it was and why it was so urgent, but she was ripped out of her thoughts by another noise from the other side of the room.

When she turned around she saw Mick entering the room, busy with rolling up the sleeves of his green squared shirt. Beth didn't exactly know if Josef had brought him other clothes as well, but it seemed that he didn't care about his clothing as much as his best friend. Why should he? Beth had never seen him in clothes that didn't suit him. Even in this loose shirt and normal jeans he was radiating so much male sex appeal that her gaze was attaching itself to Mick's shape. It was weird how much hair length and beard growth could change the face of a person. Mick looked so different with his short hair and the six-day-old beard. It gave him a daring touch and the blue of his eyes a bigger effect - those eyes which were looking at her hesitantly now.

"We… we wanted to go _now_, right?" he asked, and in just that moment she realized that she was more hanging than sitting on the couch and maybe conveyed a very inactive impression. "I mean we don't have to, if..."

"No, no," she said quickly and stood up rapidly. "I just had a little talk with Frank. We can go."

Mick gave her a halfhearted smile which seemingly should lead her to believe that he was happy to hear that but it didn't reach his eyes. She knew him too well and was able to read his reluctance from his body language.

"And you, don't want to come with us?" he asked the professor hopefully but he shook his head instantly.

"You both better go alone," said the old man tiredly and he yawned heartily. "It's impossible to deal with me today."

Beth took the chance before Mick was able to find another way to escape the walk. Without hesitation she went to the opened door out onto the veranda. She suppressed the urge to check if he was following her, for she knew how important it was to take everything for granted and to behave absolutely normal with him. Every hesitation from her would have an even bigger effect on him.

Nature was greeting her with a warm breeze that drove through her clothes and made the skin of her arms and legs crawl slightly. For a moment Beth closed her eyes with relish and she didn't open them until she felt Mick approaching her. He gave the impression of a scared animal that for the first time after a long time in captivity was released into freedom. His gaze roamed anxiously through the landscape around them, rose up to the sky warily, where the sun was shining brightly and then remained on Beth's face.

"How many steps count as a walk?" he asked with those puppy dog eyes that could melt any heart and the slight self-mockery in his voice made her laugh.

She pretended to think about the question. "I think at a thousand we have a deal."

Mick's brows went up quickly. "Thousand?!" he said shocked, and she was sure that just half of it was an act. "I thought something more like hundred to 150."

"No chance," Beth said strictly.

"A walk around the house wouldn't be a compromise?" he tried in another way but there was a twitch in the corner of his mouth that told her he wasn't really serious about that offer.

"Nice try, St. John," she said with a grin, "but we'll keep straight on for a while before we turn off somewhere."

"Yes, Ma'am," he smiled and Beth began to move bravely, went down the few stairs of the veranda and then stopped. Mick didn't follow her immediately. When she turned around he was still standing on the veranda, looking warily up to the sky.

"I hope you took an urn with you, so you can collect my mortal remains," he joked, but she could hear the insecurity in his voice that had struck him now.

"Come on, Mick," she invited him with an encouraging smile. "You went out into sunlight before when you were a vampire and you didn't crumble into dust, like Frank noted."

Mick shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe bloodsucking _humans_ are more sensitive. You never know." Humor seemed to be a good weapon against real fear, because Mick really began to move forward, slowly went down the stairs and stopped in front of Beth, slightly ducking his head and protectively holding a hand above his forehead.

"And? Any burnings or other cauterization you can see?" he asked as if he couldn't check it himself.

Beth shook her head smiling and slowly moved ahead. Mick followed her but he was still holding his hand above his head to protect his face from the direct irradiation of the sun at least. Beth knew that there was real fear behind this gesture. He was aware that there still was a vampire slumbering in his chest whom the rays of the sun could fairly harm. And the glance he was now casting behind him for the second time was revealing that there was another fear within him. Mick didn't trust the peace outside. His impaired psyche was causing him to assume an approaching danger in every hidden angle and to hedge his bets constantly.

She had to distract him, if she did not want the walk to end up very quickly. And there was nothing better than to engage him in an interesting conversation.

"You know what I just noticed?" she said as loosely as possible. "Basically we almost could refer to this as our fifth date."

Mick took a look around. "I think this isn't really the place where I would usually have a romantic walk."

She shrugged her shoulders off-handedly. "At least there are no dead bodies," she smiled and she was glad that he reacted with a soft laughter.

"Not yet," he said and she gave him a blaming glance.

"Besides… it's not that unromantic here," she said and walked now backwards to look at him while moving. "We have brilliant sunshine, a beautiful mountain chain on the horizon, olive trees and blooming cactuses…" She was spreading her arms in a presenting gesture.

Mick nodded with a dreamy smile. "Rattlesnakes, scorpions…"

She stood still horrified. "Really?" she asked anxiously and he had to laugh again.

"At the moment I don't see any, if you mean that," he relieved her from her fear.

She sighed with relief and then went on walking again. "You can't say something like that," she admonished him. "It's bad manners to scare the lady you go out with in that way."

"I was just hoping the lady would desperately catch hold of my arm, so I can act the strong hero," Mick gave back smiling.

"Um…" Beth examined him critically. She noticed the way he had put down his arm and the sun was now shining directly into his face without harming him. "I don't know if you already deserve it."

"Then what do I have to do for it?" he asked with such a soft voice that a shiver was running down her spine. So he didn't forget how to flirt, even if it was more playful than serious at the moment.

Beth tilted her head and thought for a moment. "You just have to tell me more about yourself," she said off-handedly and turned a bit so she was now walking more next to him than in front of him. With time walking backwards had become too exhausting. "But only lovely anecdotes out of your life – of course with the strict prohibition to mention ex-girlfriends and ex-wives!" Yes, that was good. Ambitious enough to bother his mind and far apart enough from the traumatic experiences of the last year for not upsetting him emotionally.

"Lovely anecdotes?" Mick repeated a bit skeptically. "From which chapter of my life?"

Um, good question. Better from the time when he had been human, so he could remember what had made his life worth living back then. "Tell me something about your family," she asked him but almost regretted it the next moment. They all had to be dead by now! 'Positive memories, Beth, not painful ones!'

But fortunately he didn't think back that far. "You already know him," he said and Beth understood him quickly enough to not look confused.

"You're talking about Josef," she stated deeply moved. The elder vampire had once said the same – back then when they had still thought that Mick was dead. Was that really just about a week ago?

His warm smile was a real treat. "A very smart person once told me, that family isn't only about DNA," he said softly, "and I think she was right".

Beth felt herself blushing right up to her ears and looked bashfully at the ground. She wasn't used to other people remembering every single word of things she had said. It flattered her but it also made her insecure - especially when it were people who were very important to her.

"How did you meet Josef at all?" she asked quickly to cover up her abashment.

"At one of his parties," he revealed instantly and the absent-minded expression in his beautiful eyes let her feel that his thoughts diverged from her for a few seconds. "Actually I should be thankful that Cora…," he choked at the same moment she was lifting her head, pricking up her ears and had to laugh, "… a certain..., for me completely uninteresting…"

"…contemptible…"

He nodded. "…- exactly – person had taken me there. Otherwise I would have never met Josef."

"And you clicked with each other?" Beth asked enthusiastically but Mick surprised her with another laugh.

"No, not at all," he confessed. "I thought he was a pompous jerk and he probably thought that I was one of those brainless appendages that Cora…"

She raised her finger admonishingly and thereby stumbled over a bigger stone that lay in her way. Her heart made a little jump when his hand briefly touched her naked upper arm, to keep her from falling. He let go of her much too fast, but for a few seconds the warmth of his touch left an invisible mark on her skin.

"…weird women have by their side," he corrected impishly and she had really to concentrate to find back the topic.

"And how did you both become friends?" she asked interested.

Mick shrugged his shoulders and kicked one of the small stones lining their path out of his way.

"Somehow fate decided it. We crossed paths again and again and one day we recognized we had more in common than we've thought. He was a huge support to me when my marriage went to the dogs."

"Yes," Beth agreed thoughtfully. "When you're in need you realize on who you can count, who's there for you when you think the world around you is shattering…" Josef had also been a great help to Beth, when she had thought she had lost Mick forever and sometimes she asked herself, what would have happened to her, if he hadn't been there for her… God! Bad topic! Bad topic! Much too profound!

"And Logan?" she asked quickly and with a very optimistic smile. "How did you meet him?"

Mick knitted his brows confused but answered her question. "By work. Guillermo had heard about him and sent me to him."

"He isn't a vampire that long, is he?" she asked and was quite sure about that.

He smiled a bit. "It's obvious, isn't it? I think he was turned around ten years ago. But I'm not really sure. I just know that he still lives in his mother's house, who is accomplishing the feat of not noticing that her son is a vampire."

Now Beth's brows rose up. "His mother is still alive?" she asked puzzled and felt a little sting in her inside. It felt weird to know that there were vampires who still had mothers, while she had had to go without the care of parents much too early. That had always been for her the shady side of being a vampire: to lose your family, the ones you love and to live in loneliness forever. That Logan had all the advantages of being a vampire and could enjoy the security of a family at the same time, made her a bit jealous. She had been an orphan with almost 20 years when her mother had died of cancer after a long period of suffering. It had been one of the worst days in her whole life.

"She is a nice woman but completely blind, when it comes to her son's mistakes and weaknesses," said Mick after a moment of hesitation and his penetrating glance told her, he was exactly feeling, what was occupying her.

Beth swallowed that blue feeling inside her very bravely. Mick had passed through much worse things last year and now tried so hard to pull through that walk as well as possible – there she wouldn't let herself get carried away by these old, sad memories and dampen the mood.

"Who knows, maybe she knows it but she doesn't want to admit it in front of him," she said, trying to give a cheerful impression further on. "Maybe she just wants to give him the opportunity to feel in her present like a normal, young guy."

"Or she wants to hold onto their old, collective life," Mick considered. "People tend to hold on fast to normal things, when their life changes extremely." His gaze wandered to the horizon and Beth wasn't sure anymore about who Mick was talking now. She asked herself with discomfort if he had figured her strategy out. After all she as well was trying to lead Mick back to normal.

"When my father died, my mom went to the supermarket just a few hours later. She cooked and tidied up, like nothing had happened," Mick told her with a low voice and Beth held her breath subtly. It was the first time, since she knew Mick that he told something about his family. And even if it wasn't a good memory, he shared with her, it showed that he was really trying to open to her more than ever before and that affected her.

"I know that she'd grieved for him," he continued, "but she had to do it, because she was afraid she would break down otherwise."

"It helped her to move on with her life," Beth said caringly. She remembered that she'd done the same after her mom's death. "Because it doesn't help to suffer or to drown in despair. Sometimes it's good to collapse but then you need to stand up again, to go on living."

Mick's eyes rested on her face again. He wasn't disgruntled or sad but seemed to understand completely what she wanted to say to him. The corners of his mouth lifted up, giving her a soft smile.

"She would have liked you," he said quietly and Beth couldn't avoid her lips curling up into a bright, shiny smile. Even if his mother wasn't alive anymore, his statement did her such good, precisely because she loved him and everything what was connected to him so much. The imagination that his mother would have taken her into her heart caused a warm feeling inside her.

"Was she like you?" her next thought just burst out of her.

Mick tilted his head to the side assessing and shrugged his shoulders indecisively. "I think in some respects she was, but unfortunately I also adopted some bad habits from my father…"

Beth sensed that it was doing him good to talk about his past, so she dared to go further into it. "Which would be?"

He narrowed his eyes, while this typical musing wrinkle was forming between his brows. "You are quite curios," he stated slightly amused. "Is that proper on a date?"

She reacted with an ashamed smile but thankfully seized on his attempt to loosen the atmosphere between them anew. "Well, how else should we get to know each other better?" she said with an innocent look and cast a glance behind them inconspicuously. The house was far enough away now that it looked like a dollhouse and a mixture of different feelings, of joy, pride and continuing curiosity, filled out every fiber of her body. "So… the bad habits on your father's side?"

For a few seconds Mick turned his gaze broodingly to the sky and then met her with feigned distress. "Caginess, temporary arrogance, stubbornness…" He was thinking again. "Oh yeah, and an addiction to painful directness…"

"And your temper?" she asked.

Mick frowned confused. "Calmness is my middle name," he said less than convincing. "I'm a rock in the surf… a paragon of self-control… especially at the moment…"

Her laughter brought also a smile back to his lips.

"No, seriously," she said. "Even if you have a lot of temper, your self-control was always enormous."

"Being a vampire makes it a lot easier," Mick explained. "It takes much longer till your blood starts to boil. Therefore the reactions are much worse _if _we lose control. But as a human I had a lot of problems calming down when something upset me, especially when I was teenager."

"Sounds as if you were one of the young and wild people," she noted and could barely hide how happy she was to talk with Mick in such a natural, normal way about topics like this, just two days after her arrival. She didn't expect this so quickly.

"Yeah, inwardly for sure but my father had an objection against that," he said. "He wanted me to become like my brother…"

Beth's eyes got a lot wider. "You had a brother?"

Mick just nodded.

"Older or younger?"

"Eight years older. Actually he should have been my parent's only child."

"Oh."

Mick lifted his shoulders, smirking. "Well, if you don't watch out, then you have to grapple with me for the rest of your life," he said and approved the hidden message to her with a waggish wink.

"But don't worry I had a quite unburdened childhood," he said more seriously. "I never had the feeling that my parents didn't want me. The troubles only started when I was a teenager. Until he died my dad believed that my mother gave me too many liberties and that she raised me to a person that rebels against everyone and everything, as soon as I feel cramped."

Beth could imagine that very well, because for her his pride, his steeliness und his passion had only made him to this interesting and unbelievable attractive person.

"I think he had missed that he was also to blame for my behavior." Mick's gaze roamed over the landscape around them, absorbed in his memories, and the expression in his eyes spoke of a father-son-relation-ship that had been burdened with a lot of tension. "He had a certain imagination of how my life should proceed when I'd grown up that he tried to force on me every day…" He shook his head slightly. "… and it wasn't that I didn't try to reach this imagination. I just was never anxious enough, good enough for him. I never could keep up with my brother. And one day I gave up and decided out of spite just to do what I liked."

"That's understandable," Beth said and Mick looked at her again. His warm gaze caused a tingling sensation in her belly.

"But not exactly wise," he added, hiding a smile in the corners of his mouth. "I think I couldn't have done a much worse thing to my dad than becoming a musician."

Beth was indeed a little surprised, although she almost immediately remembered the picture of Mick she had found in Coraline's photo album and 'borrowed' it from her. It showed Mick in front of a microphone, holding a guitar in his hands, if she remembered right. "That was really your job?"

Now Mick wasn't able to hold back his smile any longer. "I tried it anyway," he admitted. "Our band wasn't that bad but we had to do some other part time jobs to pay our bills. It didn't suffice to survive."

"Did you sing or did you just play an instrument?" she asked, although she already knew the answer. But she could hardly tell him that she knew it from a picture she had stolen from his ex-wife.

"Both," he said enforcedly and avoided her gaze as if he knew what wish was instantly stirring inside her.

Beth knew, that Mick was currently for sure not in the mood to promise her to give her a foretaste of his skills some day, so she relegated this thought out of her mind. "Why did you quit it?" she asked instead of that.

But that too didn't seem to be a good question because his eyes just brushed her face for a short moment and then concentrated onto a point somewhere in the landscape. She saw his cheek muscles twitch, just before he began to talk. "That's a long story", was the avoiding answer, and Beth sensed that there had to be a painful experience behind this defense. Even if her curiosity was big, she pulled herself together and rummaged in her thoughts for another topic, before he was losing himself in bad feelings too much.

She discovered that Mick had taken over her tactic to look for distraction to oust unpleasant sentiments, because he suddenly stopped and listened strained. "Do you hear that?" he asked her.

Beth concentrated on the noise around her and finally heard a soft gurgling not that far away from them. The surrounding had changed with the distance they had put between themselves and the farmhouse. Everything here was greener and more beautiful to look at. There were more trees and other green plants around them and nearby were several higher rocks. The gurgling seemed to come from their center. Was there really a little creek in their vicinity? She had to see this with her own eyes, so she began to move without hesitation, assuming that this little scouting expedition was also in Mick's interest and that he would follow her.

By climbing through the rocks she indeed found a little creek, glittering in the sun like fluid silver. And as she followed it and climbed onto one of the bigger rocks she discovered that not far beneath her was a little crystal-clear lake, surrounded by low, but very green trees and bushes. She was all smiles as she turned to Mick who appeared behind her frowning.

"Was climbing one of the program-points right from the start?" he asked a little out of breath, but when he looked around he seemed to be more curious than felt uneasy.

"I knew that also here are nice places," Beth said and continued her way down the rock now together with him.

It was really a beautiful place they had found here. The trees were high enough to rest for a little while in their shadows and the lake was wide and deep enough to go swimming. Of course Beth wasn't planning to do that right now but it was good to know that they had this opportunity, when the temperatures were getting even higher and with that clearly more uncomfortable. All in all it was exactly the right place to prove to Mick that the world around him had to offer plenty of wonderful things he could enjoy in his new state much better than before.

"Does this satisfy your standards for a date now?" she asked Mick, who had stopped at the brink of the lake, crouched down there now and dipped his hand into the cool water. He looked at her and only smiled but Beth didn't need any verbal explanations to realize how much it did him good to be here in this place with her. His early tension had almost gone completely and the higher rocks around them that sealed this place off a bit, seemed to give him the necessary feeling of safety that he needed to take the next brave step into his new life.

"We could attach a terrace under the trees and have our breakfast there every morning," she joked and moved toward the secluded spot. When she turned around to Mick again she caught him turning his face towards the sun and closing his eyes for a moment to enjoy the warm rays. It felt like it was almost half of an eternity ago that she had seen him like this, sunken into the feeling of being alive and just enjoying it to the fullest. And suddenly she felt a tightness in her chest that made it difficult for her to breath. She had wished so dearly that she could give him that feeling back again but she hadn't been really convinced that she would succeed. And now… now she could hardly believe it and just wished to be able to freeze this moment, to burn it into her mind, because she knew it wouldn't last forever. In this second she couldn't imagine a sight that was more beautiful.

Mick felt that she was looking at him and turned to her again. "Looks like I'm indeed more human than vampire right now," he said and took a deep and satisfied breath, before he came over to her.

Beth swallowed the lump in her throat arduously. "I never had a doubt about it since I've been back here," she brought forth it with a firm voice.

Mick stopped right in front of her, looked into the blue sky again and then shook his head lightly. "It's so strange," he admitted quietly and his eyes searched hers to come to rest in them. "When I became human again with the cure it all felt totally different. Somehow now everything is more intensive, not like it felt when I was human back then."

He took a deep breath once more and tried to settle his thoughts. His sudden openness concerning his emotional life surprised Beth a little bit but she tried to hide it. It was good that he talked about it. It was good that he gave her the opportunity to understand what was happening inside him.

"My senses are sometimes so… so intensely sensitive but in a much more extensive way, not that specific as when you are a vampire. That is… really confusing…" He scratched his temple a bit insecure. "It also sounds that way, doesn't it?"

Beth shook her head. "I think everything that's going on inside you will need some getting used to for now," she said softly. "But you'll understand all the processes in your body bit by bit and notice that you're actually not so different than before."

She saw clearly skepticism flare up in his eyes. "I don't know… sometimes I feel like a stranger in my own body and I always have this feeling that I'm not alone there." He took another heavy breath. "And on the other side I really don't want to be alone," he added and ran a hand over his nape as if he had to dissipate a tenseness that was putting a strain on him. "That doesn't even make sense…"

"I think it does," she tried to say quickly. "Maybe your subconscious mind is telling you that you have to reunite both your sides somehow to really feel good again…"

"Maybe," Mick agreed half-heartedly and tried to smile but failed. He wasn't ready yet to accept his vampire side and not just see it as a burden. It was still a long way to go up to that point.

"You're not alone with that problem," she tried to comfort him. "Basically every person has to deal with that every day."

Mick's eyes narrowed a bit. "What do you mean?"

"I think for the most part in the chest of any person there two sides are slumbering," she explained. "Reason against emotion, conscience against desire, selfishness against sympathy… Call it whatever you want to. And both sides have the right to exist, both are important to assure the survival. The trick is to use them in the right moment, to use them effectively to find the right way in your life. The way each person _wants_ to walk, because he is convinced that it belongs to him."

Her words put Mick in deep brooding but there was also an expression of appreciation slowly shown in his eyes. Beth let her philosophical side out very rarely and only in front of her closest friends and she really didn't feel comfortable in this role. So she wasn't able to hold his intensive gaze anymore and instead examined his feet that were clothed in a pair of Seth's ordinary sneakers. She hadn't noticed this before.

"My mother and I used to talk about it a lot in the past," she verbalized the thought that had caught her now. "She was convinced that it is one of our missions to unite our souls, to form them to a complete, peaceful, whole thing before we leave this world. And I think at the end she really made it. She could leave in peace." It was weird, that the thought of their families had accompanied them on their whole walk and still didn't let go of them. But highly likely it was normal that when you got emotionally closer to each other you also had a stronger need to talk about the people you had loved so much.

"She was a strong woman," she heard Mick say quietly. "She has passed that on to her daughter…"

Beth's eyes flew back to him again and she knit her brows slightly confused. She knew that Mick had known her mother, because she had been his client but there was something in his voice that told her that the contact between them didn't break off over the time, that he had known her better than Beth had assumed until now. Why hadn't she notice something in her childhood or youth?

Her thoughts span over, tags of memories flew past her until finally one of them got caught by her mind's eye: The cool corridor of a hospital, the deep mourning in her chest, a door that opened and a tall, dark man with sunglasses that stopped in his tracks for a moment, looked down and pushed past her to disappear as fast as he could.

For a moment Beth looked at Mick with gaping mouth and he turned away from her with a distinctly caught expression on his face. "You were there!" Beth said puzzled. "_You_ were the man that came out of my mother's room, three days before she died!"

He inspected with a lot of concentration the stones in front of his feet, pushed some of them back and forth like there was no greater activity than that at the moment. But his body language told her that he was enormously tensed.

But Beth couldn't abandon this topic. It stirred her up too much, was too important. "But why?" she pondered aloud. "Why were you there?"

He couldn't examine the ground any longer at a question that was addressed so clearly to him. His acquired politeness didn't allow that. "I… we wrote to one another from time to time over the years," he explained with slight discomfort in his voice. "She found that it would be great for me, to take part a little in the girl's life I saved…"

"She…_she_ gave you these pictures of me that you have in my file," it burst out of Beth excitedly and he confirmed her guess with a short nod.

"She also invited me a few times," he continued, taking in every stir of her face with a lot of insecurity. He seemed to fear that she would get angry. He couldn't know how wrong he was with that. "But I had always been able to get rid of her somehow…"

"But then you were in the hospital," Beth reminded him a bit impatiently.

He uttered a little sigh. "Yes. She called me. She… she was desperate. She was terribly worried about you because she was about to leave you alone so early. She just wanted that someone is watching over you and is protecting you from all the dangers of this world… And she had to talk about that with me personally…"

Beth looked at him aghast but nodded in understanding. "You saved me when I was a child, when everybody had given up on me. Who would be more qualified for that job?"

Mick held her gaze and waited patiently for the next questions.

"But why did you go there? You… you risked blowing your whole cover with this action. She was just ill not blind…"

"How would I have been able to deny her wish, Beth?" His beautiful eyes looked at her agitated. "How? She was so ill and desperate…"

Without wanting it tears welled up in her – not just because these sad memories were so painful but because she realized to which danger Mick had exposed himself just to take this burden from her mother's soul and to give her a peaceful farewell of this world, to make it easier for her to go. This unbelievably caring, noble gesture touched her so deep inside her, that she was barely able to fight the need to take him into her arms and kiss him dearly.

"Did…," her voice broke slightly so she had to clear her throat. "Did she realize that you're a vampire? Did you tell her?"

He shook his head. "That would have only upset her. She thought that her daughter had been right back then when she had claimed that her savior was her guardian angel…" A sad smile played around his lips but she could tell that he was looking back upon her mother with great favor. "She thought me to be a heavenly creature that walks the earth to help the humans and to stand by their sides in their darkest hours."

Yes, that sounded like her mom. Beth could vaguely remember that her mother had told her that day that there were creatures in this world that would instead of her watch over Beth for the rest of her life. All of a sudden her mom had been so calmed down and happy. Her fear for Beth, even her fear of death had been completely gone. Beth had thought it had been the strong painkillers her mother had been drugged with but now it revealed that there had been another reason.

"She wouldn't have accepted another explanation at that time," Mick continued and Beth agreed with him inwardly. "It was the best explanation for her. And she was so sure that you would lead a happy life under my protection."

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?" Beth asked with breathy voice and tried with a vengeance to keep the burning in her eyes under control, for she knew exactly that he would misunderstand her tears.

Mick looked at her concerned and she could see how desperately he was looking for an answer which could explain what had made him act like that. "Because I…" He broke off and started afresh. "You suffered so much from your mother's death and…" He struggled with the words again while Beth only wanted to embrace him now and show him how thankful she was for this act, how much she loved him for having done that.

"I didn't want everything to get stirred up in you again…" He looked at her full of sympathy and Beth's self control fell down like a house of cards. "And maybe I was scared that you would be hurt or…" She went a little step forward, rose up to her toes and softly pressed her lips onto his mouth. It was just a short and innocent kiss but it let Mick freeze for a moment. When she let go of him again she smiled at him full of affection.

"… angry," he finished his sentence breathlessly, while his eyes kept the intensive eye contact to her.

Beth uttered a little laugh for this situation reminded her of the first kiss she had stolen from him and like then she got to her toes again and kissed him once more, even if she knew this hadn't been on her plan for this day and that it was more arising from _her _need then from his.

But different from then Mick kept her from pulling back by returning the kiss timidly to her surprise. A warm feeling was flooding her body and sent a whole series of tender shivers down her spine, while her heart made a few turbulent jumps. Much too early the gentle contact ended again. Beth lifted her lids and received a gaze full of benevolence and pleasure. Her heart made another adventurous twirl when this boyish, happy Mick-smile flashed over his face and she answered it with a soundless laugh. He raised a hand and brushed gently a strand of her hair out of her face, while also his other hand touched her face and his thumb caressed her cheek in an unbelievable tender gesture. And then his thumb ran across her lips as light as a feather. Beth closed her eyes like in trance, taking in this feeling with all her senses and she felt a little quivering deep inside her when his lips replaced his thumb. God… they were so seductively soft, felt so wonderful on hers, so familiar but also through their warmth so different… Beth couldn't help but put her arms around his neck and enjoying his caress to the fullest, giving it back to him in the most cautious way. His gaze searched hers, when their lips parted once more but diverged from each other not more than a few millimeters. There was so much devotion in his eyes, so much love and longing. Her pulse pushed up into a quite inappropriate pace when his lips touched hers anew, innocently and softly and clearly showing that in his human state everything had to feel so much more different than before. Mick didn't only kiss her, he began to explore her, discovered the taste of her lips anew, enjoyed it, drank in the feeling of this delicate skin beneath his lips and seemed to lose himself in her, while Beth had to struggle for control over her anything but innocent feelings his groping, searching, devoted kisses were causing. There were whole battalions of butterflies in her stomach now, waking a hunger for more inside her she actually couldn't allow herself at the moment.

Help, she didn't want, came from a completely different direction. Weird scratching sounds from the rocks let Mick break away from Beth and made him push her with a fast motion behind him, trying to protect her from the possible danger in doing so. Beth wanted to protest after a short moment of reflection and tried to look over his shoulder but she had no chance.

She heard a weird growl that changed into an equally weird squeak, felt Mick's astonishment and in the next moment he had to take a few steps backwards, because something big and hairy bumped into his chest and almost carried him off his feet. Beth could only shirk and stumbled to the side, realizing with horror that a huge German shepherd dog had leapt at Mick and forced him to his knees, employing his full body weight. To her surprise Mick started to laugh, while he was striving to gently push the excited animal away.

"Monster! Monster!" he tried to reach the dog. But it jumped again at him and ran his tongue happily over Mick's face that he couldn't turn away in time. "It's okay," he laughed and tousled the thick coat of that beast. "It's okay! Drop now! Sit! Sienta te!"

Apparently the tone was strict enough that it filtered down to the dog, because this giant really sat down and seemed to beam at him with hanging tongue, while his bushy tail swirled up dust and sand.

Beth was glued to the spot and watched the dog with wide eyes. She had always been an animal-loving person and she liked dogs. But this calf… 'Monster' was actually a fitting name. Its broad head was reaching her hips, and it had paws that reminded her in some way of the claws of a bear. He looked generally more like a bear than a dog. His coat was dark– and light brown and really thick and ragged. His left ear stood straight and listened observantly to every stir coming from Mick. The other ear did much less well, for it had a little bend in the middle and made the whole predator's face look much less dangerous.

"You… you know each other?" Beth stammered, while Mick scrubbed once more the hackles of the dog in that typical manly way, making the dog utter joyful grumbling sounds.

"This is my old friend Monster," he said with an unusual loving tone and smiled at her. Beth took a hesitant step toward the dog and he turned his head to her and reached out his nose for her, sniffling at her.

"He belongs to the family, that gave us an accommodation," Mick added, while Beth dared now to caress the dog's head. He looked so friendly and his brown button eyes were blinking so favorably at her that her initial timidity vanished quite quickly.

"He seems to love you a lot," she noted smirking when the dog leaned at least with his back against Mick's legs, despite Beth's stroke units.

"He loves every vampire," Mick said shrugging and Beth cast a questioning glance at him.

"Haven't you told me that animals are afraid of vampires?"

"Monster is a special case," Mick said proudly. "When he was younger he made very good experiences with a vampire, ever since…" He pointed at the giant that now laughed happily up to him and Mick bend down to pat the dog's chest.

"And this vampire wasn't coincidentally a private investigator in LA?" Beth looked at him with raised brows and the corners of Mick's mouth lifted up into a mischievous smile. But to her regret this smile was gone as fast as it had come, when they heard a loud call from a distance.

"That's probably Manolo," said Mick, looking into the distance and the expression in his eyes changed within seconds. For an unknown reason it was as if someone had thrown a dark curtain over Mick's soul and handed him back all his fears and worries. Whoever this Manolo was, it wasn't good that they were going to meet him right now.

"We…We should come to meet him," Mick suggested not very enthusiastically and she could clearly feel him searching in her gaze for support and confidence. She gave him an encouraging smile and it seemed to be enough to enable him to put his announcement into action.

Monster lead the way, jumping happily up and down, while Beth had to take a deep breath to be able to follow the two of them with a happy and optimistic face. Some very bad feeling told her that the meeting with this person would induce the first one of several regressions concerning Mick's development. Up to now everything had just went too well, she had succeeded too fast. What had a very smart person once said?

'Every person has times, where just everything goes smoothly, but this shouldn't scare anyone – this will pass quickly.'


	32. Cooling down

_*__So here we go again. A new chapter for all of my readers. Sam Brody, Sci fi fan30 and Moonjat 54 – I thank you so much for your feedback. I'm glad you liked the chapter and hope you'll enjoy this one too. Also thanks to Kylara who translated the first part of the new chapter and to Jo who was my beta reader again. The next chapter will be up on Thursday again. Best wishes, yours Jenna!* _

* * *

**C****ooling down**

Aversion... aversion... aversion ... My gaze darkened as I carefully studied the old man's face before me as he bent very focused over the piece of paper on which he had written down all the things he would need in the near future. But no matter how many times I repeated these words in my head, it did not alter the fact that I couldn't muster up the corresponding feeling. Talking to Alejandro and Isabella and seeing their deep guilt regarding Mick had made me realize again what this man in front of me actually had done to my best friend. Between the date on which we had found Mick and the present time I had somehow lost my hatred of the professor in some mysterious way and I wondered when and why this had happened. Even more pressing, however, was the question of why Mick did not hate him, why he could talk to him normally and even accept his help and had not just torn him to shreds and scattered his body parts in the desert. If I had been in his shoes I would have done so as soon as I had seen him again.

Maybe it was Mick's sometimes quite distinctly advanced masochism... or maybe it was one of those highly complex psychological processes taking place. The one that made kidnapped victims able to even fall in love with their abductor sometimes, or at least build up a pretty intense relationship between them. Of course, I did not mean to insinuate that Mick was in love with Frank... with _Peterson_, but the familiarity between them spoke volumes and it still bothered me and not just because I had always shown remarkable traces of jealousy regarding Mick. I certainly did not want to start to like this Dr. Frankenstein. That I had allowed a less formal tone between us was bad enough.

Aversion... aversion... aversion...

Peterson raised his head and his forehead knit into pensive wrinkles for a moment as he looked at the opposite wall. He pushed the glasses which had slipped a little forward on his nose due to his stooped posture before back to their proper place and then turned to face me. My gloomy look made him stop in confusion for a moment but did not take away his ability to speak. I was really out of practice...

"Are you sure that you can get medication and medical equipment with no problem?" He asked cautiously.

"Just because you're varying the words a little and arranging them differently doesn't make this a new question," I replied with an irritated sigh. The professor had asked me exactly the same question once before and I had no desire to repeat myself.

"It's just that, as a doctor, I know how difficult it is to get those things," he said and I just rolled my eyes.

"I have connections and possibilities most people can only dream of," I responded. "Money opens doors for you to worlds you don't even know exist. I say this now for the last time: write down what you need and I'll bring it along back the day after tomorrow."

Frank's.... no, _Peterson's_ eyes flickered briefly over the paper that lay before him. Then he nodded and pushed it across the coffee table to me. I sat up in my chair, picked it up and stowed it in the inside pocket of my jacket. Frank's eyes still rested on me, and it didn't escape my attention that he wanted something else from me. So I looked at him with quizzically raised eyebrows.

"You... you're really sure you can leave all of us here alone for two days?" he voiced the question which must have weighted on his mind for a while now.

"Are you standing by your earlier statement that Mick is currently in a fairly stable condition and you think you and Beth will be able to soothe him if he again has an emotional break down?" My counter question made him think about his idea and after a moment he nodded slowly.

"Then I'm sure," I added.

"It's not just about that," Frank admitted with hesitation and his eyes flickered briefly to the hallway as if he wanted to make sure that there was no one who could overhear us. Then he leaned a little forward, forgetting that I had much better hearing than a normal mortal and that this gesture was not really necessary. "After all, there are four other vampires here and I really don't know how they'll behave when you are no longer here."

"Oh," I said understandingly and put on a fake smile, "you must be thinking of the wild and bloody orgies we vampires constantly crave and which my friends will give in to as soon as I'm gone."

Peterson had started shaking his head half way through my statement and gave me a tortured look. "No, no... I'm not thinking about that at all." He let out a deep sigh. "I just have the feeling that in these precarious situations surrounding Mick you've always been the one who could provide a certain order. All the others have overreacted so much ... And August ..." He paused and looked at the ground a little bit ashamed.

So this was the real problem. I had to admit that the thought of our vampire doctor had also caused me some pain especially since I still had no clue what had happened between him and Mick two days ago or what thoughts and intentions regarding my best friend he really had.

"I'll tell him that he has to accept a subordinate role to you in terms of Mick's treatment," I promised when Frank raised his eyes again. "Regarding the other vampires, Logan and Seth are basically pretty harmless and they're so scared of Mick that they will certainly behave properly. And Hendrik ... well, I hardly think that you're his type." My grin was supposed to cheer him up and he really tried hard to smile but nevertheless he clearly gave the impression that the thought of not having me around in the house for two days still didn't please him. However, he said nothing more.

To be honest, I had the same feeling about my absence as he did. I had several concerns, but sometimes there are problems no one else can handle for me. Too many things had accumulated in LA that required my physical presence and deep inside me there was also a strong desire to finally be able to leave this hole, push my worries for Mick away, at least for a few days, and to take care of another very important person and his concerns: me. However, fate seemed not to be on my side.

There were quick steps on the veranda which caused Frank and me to sit up surprised. A second later the door flew open and Mick stormed in, sweaty, breathing hard and with a haunted look on his face. I jumped up almost in sync with the professor while my friend stumbled in the usual way into the kitchen area, turned on the faucet and held his face under the water jet before he began to drink hastily. Only two heartbeats later Beth burst into the living room with an expression of deep concern in her eyes and a pulse which told me that she must have had quite a sprint behind her.

"What happened?" I immediately addressed her while Peterson rushed over to Mick who was almost taking a bath in the little sink.

I had to grab Beth's arm to attract her attention because she, too, wanted to run immediately to Mick.

"This has just started," she said without looking at me. "He said he felt hot and started to tremble at the same time." She shook her head in despair. "This is all my fault."

"Mick?" I heard the professor ask and let go of Beth because my legs automatically moved to come to my friend's aid as well. His breathing rate and heartbeat were really alarming me.

Mick straightened up again so that the water quickly ran out of his hair, down his face and over his neck into the collar of his shirt soaking the fabric. His eyes flew to Frank and when he realized who was in front of him his hand flashed forward and he dug his fingers into the collar of the surprised man's shirt pulling him abruptly so close to himself that their noses were almost touching. Beth let out a soft sound of fright and we both rushed to them with the thought of intervening as soon as possible because Mick's eyes held much more aggression than they had in a long time.

"Give me... something...," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Something against this..."

Peterson's eyes were open wide with fear and his fingers closed around Mick's wrist mutely asking to be let go. Nevertheless, he tried to keep his voice as quiet as possible. "Against what, Mick?" he asked urgently.

Mick's other hand went quickly around his neck, tore the professor off his feet and crashed his back into the refrigerator, pinning him there with the pressure of his whole body so that the man could make only rattling noises. I didn't hesitate any longer but grabbed Mick by the arm to tear him away from the professor. To my surprise I not only got a nasty electric shock through this contact but Mick gave a wince of pain and jostled me off him with clearly super-human strength so that I crashed painfully into the nearest wall. At least he had let go of the professor who was on his knees coughing, and who now scrabbled away from him because my friend was moving toward him once again. But this time it was Beth who blocked his way and raised her hands defensively, anxious not to touch him. You can also learn from the mistakes of others.

"Mick! Calm down," she begged him out loud and my friend stopped, breathing heavily and looking at her, desperation in his eyes. My sensitive ears picked up that his heart was racing now as if he was about to do a high-performance sport and I furrowed my brows with slight concern while I slowly got up and focused on further serious signals from his body.

"I need... meds," he said, his voice strained, as I moved cautiously towards him making sure not to put him back on the defensive again.

"And you think you'll get them when you kill him?" Beth asked doubtfully.

Mick shook his head and closed his eyes briefly. "I... I don't want to do that," he said tensely and a visible quiver ran through his body. He opened his lids and his urgent gaze again looked at the professor but this time with far less hate than before. "Something… is happening inside of me ... Please, I don't want to transform."

"You won't," the professor replied with a trembling voice and came to his feet behind Beth. "Just tell me what's going on."

"He's charged up," I interposed as I was quite sure that this was his biggest problem even though Mick was now looking at me in confusion. I could almost physically feel the energetic tension he seemed to be exposed to. It was all too familiar to me. When vampires used their strength they activated a very similar energy inside of them but that was certainly very unusual for humans which was probably the reason why Mick was so upset and tense.

Peterson's face lit up. "Yes, I also received an electric shock," he noted with delight and took a hesitant step past Beth toward Mick. This time, my friend was the one who drew back.

"Don't touch me," he muttered threateningly.

"Does it hurt when we touch you?" the doctor asked. That would at least explain Mick's aggressive outburst at my intervention. But my friend did not seem to be sure about this. His eyes scurried back and forth between us, upset, as he struggled for breath and again a strong quiver ran through his body. "I don't know."

"But it's unpleasant, isn't it?"

This time Mick nodded.

"And does your skin feel hot and charged up?"

Another nod followed this question.

"Josef is right," Peterson smiled. "Probably your body has accumulated energy during your walk and for some reason he's releasing it."

Mick was not the only one who gave Frank a blank look, but the professor apparently didn't want to explain his statement further. Instead he searchingly looked around in the room. "We need some valve, some way for you to get rid of a lot of energy as quickly as possible so that we're able to get you out of this overwrought state."

Mick closed his eyes again to focus on Frank's idea despite the strong reactions inside his body and my mind was also racing. When Mick's eyelids lifted again and his gaze met mine I knew that we had simultaneously hit upon the same idea.

"Freezer," I said softly and my friend nodded quickly and in the next moment pushed past the confused Beth and Frank toward the basement stairs.

"What?!" it burst out of a perplexed Beth while at the same time an enthusiastic "Yes!" escaped Frank's lips.

"You... you're kidding," I heard Beth call after me as I hurried along with Mick toward the cellar door and immediately ripped it open. I turned around a little bit to the now terrified young woman. "We're not," I replied calmly while Mick was clattering down the stairs followed by the agitated professor. "And you certainly don't need to remind me that he's currently a human and can't tolerate the cold as well as a vampire can. I'll take care that he doesn't stay in the freezer for too long. What you can do right now is to get some blankets so that we can warm him afterwards."

Beth moved her lips but could not speak so I gave her a short, inviting smile and disappeared down the stairs.

The basement was not very large nor very comfortable as it was slightly damp and musty and quite somber. It was divided into two rooms. One of them was available for Logan and his work and the other one was our 'collective bedroom'. On the ceiling of this 'cuddly' area burned only a single light bulb that threw its feeble light on the four freezers which barely left enough room for moving around without bumping into something. The freezers themselves, however, were relatively new models with transparent doors and ventilation systems with built-in air filters. Perhaps that had been one of the reasons why the generator had earlier had such difficulty in providing them with enough energy. But with any less comfort I would have not been able to endure this hell. Fortunately, we now had Seth. Seth who was now rudely awakened by Mick because my frenzied friend opened the first freezer he could lay his hands on.

The young vampire sat up startled, blinking around in astonishment. "What... what's wrong?" he stammered and got a little shock when Mick grimly bent down to him.

"Get out!" Mick hissed through gritted teeth and Seth did not hesitate a second longer to comply with his threatening demand. He hurried so much that he was more toppling than climbing out of his resting place but fortunately managed to steady himself in time and didn't collide with Mick. My friend wasted no time trying to undress but simply climbed into the freezer fully clothed and laid down with bated breath. He seemed to be even more tense than before for the aggressive cold instantly bothered him in his human condition. Nevertheless, he told me with a quick nod to close the freezer's lid.

"Only a few minutes," I said soothingly holding his slightly worried gaze until the door was closed and the warmth of his body fogged over the glass. I didn't feel really comfortable with this situation either because I was too aware that I was closing a human in this freezer.

"Is he a vampire again?" Seth asked, confused. "He doesn't look like it."

I ignored him and turned to Frank instead. "What exactly is happening here?"

"The way I see it this isn't all that dramatic," the professor said casually. "Vampires store energy in their dormant phases so that it is available to draw on to a higher degree when it's necessary. I've already asked myself how Mick is doing that because as a human he doesn't have these dormant phases. Apparently the radiation of the sun helps him do that. The Nigong also had this skill."

Seth let out a soft chuckle and Frank turned to look at him in astonishment. "It sounds as if they had been a kind of solar system," he explained his laughter.

"Well, yes, they didn't really generate electricity," Frank said seriously. "They were just able to absorb the energy and the warmth of the light and store it in their bodies. Every organism needs energy for all the processes that take place in its body and the muscles especially need energy. The higher the performance of a muscle, the greater is its energy consumption. And the Nigong were, like vampires, capable of superhuman performances precisely because they were able to absorb extra energy through the sunlight and store it. By the way, you do it too."

"We hate the sun," I reminded Frank and he gave me a knowing smile.

"For a good reason, but you also depend on it!"

I furrowed my brows puzzled, though it dawned on me subconsciously that there was a core of truth in the professor's statement.

"What?" Seth asked, confused.

"Humans get the energy they need to survive from their food by chemical metabolism," the professor continued his little training in biology for advanced students. "They belong to the chemotrophs. Vampires belong to them only partly because they descend from the Nigong which can actually be defined as hybrids due to their ability to use the sun for regaining energy, although they weren't the only creatures on earth with this ability, they were both chemotrophs and phototrophs. This is an immense advantage when the food supply is suddenly running out. But since vampires don't eat food and only live off the nutrient-rich blood of humans they are dependent on light in whatever form. The blood alone would never suffice to meet the energy needs of a vampire. If you lock one up in a completely dark room for a long time he will gradually become weaker and hungrier. The less light is available to him, the more blood he needs."

Peterson broke off for he had noticed in my gaze the question which had immediately shot into my mind: How did he know all of that? His eyes now searched for contact with the fascinated Seth. "The tragedy of this whole story is that the vampires with their fear of the sun on the other hand are right of course, because sunlight isn't only full of useful energy but also causes a lot of other processes in the body of a vampire," he explained. "In the body of a normal human for example UV-B radiation leads to the creation of endogenous anti-rachitic Cholecalciferol."

Our uncomprehending gazes probably spoke volumes because the professor paused, then remembered that we were not professionals and gave us a gracious smile. "I speak of vitamin D3 which is actually not a vitamin but rather a hormone that is of immense value for the construction of bone and the blood level. The fact that vampires are also dependent on it I don't need to mention, do I? In any case UV rays and above all the warmth of the rays of the sun also provide a vampire's body with an increased outpouring of the aggressive vampire hormones which in turn have a high impact on the storage and release of energies. This in turn elevates the body temperature of the vampire and increases his thirst for blood which upsets his whole body and finally causes his circulatory system to collapse. If the vampire gets no blood and his body does not cool down, he dies."

"But ... but Mick is human at the moment," I interposed with a frown to finally come back to our proper topic. "Why has he got the same problems as a vampire?"

"As I see it, his problems are a bit of a different nature," Frank said. "Vampires suffer from the negative reactions of their bodies to too much sunlight. They get weaker and more hungry and develop a severe fever which makes them insane and kills them in the end."

I nodded understandingly. I had already experienced first hand the dramatic effects an unwilling bath in the sun could have upon a vampire several times in my long life. "And Mick really is bursting with strength."

"Yes, probably because due to his altered genetics there are processes taking place in his body like the ones inside the bodies of the Nigong; processes which regulate his hormonal and energy balance in a such manner that he can only gain advantages from the contact with light and sun"

"He recharged his battery," Seth grinned and Peterson grimaced. He didn't really seem to like these technical examples while on the contrary I found them quite original.

"If you want to call it that," Frank replied slightly ungraciously. "But basically it's not anything that special. We humans also charge and release surplus energy in contact with metal or other organisms in the form of small electric shocks. In Mick's case the energy is just a whole lot stronger and when it is released inside of him it causes a slight increase in body temperature, an increased pulse rate, elevated blood pressure and an extreme need for physical exercise. But he will never really generate the amount of electricity that you can get from an electrical outlet."

"... or like the Emperor in Star Wars," Seth added with enthusiasm. "Those flashes of light coming out of his hands were so cool..."

" ... but belong to the realm of fantasy," the professor stifled him.

My brows furrowed thoughtfully. "But so far he doesn't seem to feel very good with this new capability."

"Because he cannot deal that well yet and above all isn't that conscious about his own body at the moment. But he has at least shown us that he has access to his energy reserves in his human state as well," the professor said in joyous excitement. He paused for a moment as he heard steps announcing Beth's arrival, but then could not stop himself from going on. "Something must have happened at the end of the walk that has stirred him up emotionally. But instead of switching into his panic-stricken vampire state as he has done before, his human organism has accomplished the feat of releasing the energy reserves of the vampire without waking him in doing so. I was hoping that perhaps he would succeed in doing that some day but that this has happened so quickly and so completely by accident ..." The professor's eyes glowed with enthusiasm and Beth who just entered the room loaded with two thick blankets gave him a questioning glance.

Seth, who only now became aware that he was still standing mother-naked next to me made a little horrified noise and quickly covered the most important area of his body with both hands before he carefully tried to back toward the hooks on the wall where his clothes were hanging. Beth, however, wasn't interested in him at all. Her eyes were fixated on the professor's face. "_What_ has happened quickly," she repeated the last part of the sentence she had caught when she entered the room.

The professor put one hand on her arm in a calming gesture and gave her an encouraging smile. "Everything's all right, Beth. You've done nothing wrong. He'll soon feel better."

She looked at him doubtfully then turned full of concern to the freezer in which Mick was lying. "That's just crazy ...," it slipped from her lips in a whisper.

"What exactly happened out there?" I asked her because I really wanted to find out the cause for this whole turmoil.

"We met this young Mexican," she answered my question without being able to avert her gaze from the freezer. Her eyes darted full of worry over Mick's vague, almost unrecognizable contours. "Mick was very curt with him and ..." Now she looked at me. "I think he links some unpleasant memories to him which he currently can not seem to control. He got very nervous and did all he could to get rid of him as quickly as possible. And then..." She let out a deep sigh. "He was suddenly so different..."

I nodded understandingly. I knew immediately which memories had assailed Mick the moment he saw Manolo and it didn't surprise me at all that these had stirred him up emotionally, especially with Beth in his vicinity at the same time.

"It's really not your fault," Peterson repeated again and Beth gave him a look that said that she so wanted to believe him but couldn't do that right now. "You've done everything right so far. What's happened is only the result of the natural processes in Mick's body and of an unfortunate encounter with a person from his past."

Beth had stopped listening to him by now. Her eyes rested again on the ice-covered glass of the freezer and with every second that passed she got more nervous. "Isn't that long enough for now?" she asked looking at me impatiently.

I shrugged my shoulders and looked at Peterson who also gave a similarly helpless expression. It was Mick himself who divested us of the decision by suddenly simply pressing his hands against the glass from inside and lifting the lid of the freezer. I immediately came to help and relieved him of the weight of the lid which his trembling arms could barely hold as he sat up with difficulty.

"Fuck… _is_ that cold!" Mick uttered with a heavy gasp and seized without hesitation mine and Frank's arms to get away from the bitter cold. He stumbled a bit when his feet touched the floor because his muscles were contracting and trying to produce warmth in his body to the point that there wasn't enough energy for other tasks such as standing upright. I didn't really dare to let go of him again even when he seemed to stand on his own. His whole body was shaking and trembling so much that even the chattering of this teeth was clearly audible and I started to wonder if this had really been such a good idea, even if the re-transformation into the gentler, more sociable Mick had apparently been successful. Beth seemed to think so, too, as I received a reproachful glance before she dropped one of the blankets to caringly put the other one around Mick's shoulders.

"What lunacy ...," she muttered as she simply opened the blanket, wrapped her arms around his shivering body and snuggled up to him as tightly as she could. For a moment Mick seemed to be a bit surprised then he closed his eyes relieved and automatically leeched on to her warm body to absorb as much warmth as possible. Sometimes there were certain advantages to have a human close at hand.

"Next time you can just run a few times around the house," I heard Beth murmur into his shoulder. A small smile appeared on Mick's lips and confirmed for me that our hasty actions had in fact produced the desired effect and had at least freed Mick from his overwrought state.

I bent down to pick up the other blanket at my feet and wrapped it carefully around my two favorite humans, then I turned back to Frank.

"And now everything is all right again?" I asked somewhat skeptically.

I noticed his slight hesitation before he answered. "I think so. As chilled as he is, the warming of his body will cost him quite a lot of energy and..."

"To sum up the whole thing for all of us," I interrupted him somewhat impatiently, "the walk outside in the sun didn't harm Mick?"

Peterson nodded eagerly. "Quite the contrary. Actually, the sun can even help him to restore his missing energy reserves again."

"And if he takes in too much?" I probed, knowing that Mick and Beth were also listening attentively.

"Then he must simply get rid of it in some way," the professor replied and his gaze wandered to Mick who was now looking at him closely. "It would be best for you if you regularly do some sports so that you do not accumulate too great a surplus of energy and that will allow the vampire in you snooze on nicely."

"Without restrictions?" Mick probed softly and I noticed that the chattering of his teeth was hardly noticeable anymore. The small Beth-oven performed excellently.

Frank brooded slightly and then shook his head noncommittally. "Your human body needs to get used to bearing a heavier load. That's the reason for having those fainting spells after your recent transformations." He let out a small sigh. "What we would need would be a portable ECG to monitor your vital signs."

"Can't we use some of the things we have here at the moment?" I asked hopefully.

"I'm not a medical technician," Frank said with a shrug.

"Technician?" I heard a joyful voice behind me and Seth pushed his way into our little circle, now fully clothed again and far more self-confident. "What exactly do you need?" he asked with a joyous flash in his eyes behind his round glasses. "This may sound a bit arrogant, but back in the day my nickname was MacGyver." He looked expectantly around but only Beth rewarded the remark he had made in a casually joking manner with a small smile.

I raised a questioning eyebrow and Seth uttered a resigned sigh. "TV philistines," he mumbled and took a deep breath. "There is hardly a technical thing that I can not get right," he explained patiently. "Give me some tools and a bit of material and I'll give you whatever you want."

"We have a normal ECG upstairs in Mick's room," Frank explained hesitantly. "What we need is one that is much smaller and is able to radio to the house over a long distance... are you really sure you can do something like that?"

A beaming smile slipped over Seth's face. "That isn't even a challenge."

"That… that would be fantastic!" burst joyously out of Peterson.

"When do you want it to be ready?" Seth asked me of all people and I had no choice but to shrug my shoulders. Mick, however, seemed to have more specific ideas. Apparently his mind was already sufficiently thawed.

"Can you have it by tomorrow morning?" he asked. Seth thought for a moment and then nodded confidently.

"I'm already on it," he said as he gave us all a proud smile and in the next second raced up the stairs.

"Why tomorrow morning?" I addressed my friend in surprise.

Mick took a deep breath. "Something like this cannot happen to me again," he replied firmly. "It's enough that I'm dangerous as a vampire. I should at least have my human side under control... or half-human side ... or ... whatever..."

"Human," Beth intervened in a strict tone. She looked up to him admonishingly and provoked his gentle, lop-sided Mick-smile that made every trace of anger immediately disappear from her face and her eyes light up.

"Nothing happened, Mick," I added supportively and cast an inconspicuous glance at Frank's neck which still was slightly red from the rough treatment. I had probably been wrong about Mick's relationship with the professor. There was not only this trustful, nearly amicable relationship between them, but also a dark, hate-filled side that my friend had been able to keep under control up to now. But there were clearly situations where this control would be lost.

"With a little practice you'll certainly get the whole situation under control fairly quickly," I heard Beth say, while my eyes wandered over to one of the other occupied freezers when the lid began to rise. Only a few seconds later an unclothed, sleepy Logan sat up and winced when he noticed the many people in the basement.

"What ... what are you all doing here?" he asked slightly annoyed. "And why do you have to be so loud that you wake all of us up?" His gaze got caught by Beth who looked at him quite blatantly past Mick's shoulder. A noise very similar to Seth's girlish squeak of horror escaped his throat and he immediately covered his private parts with both his hands. I couldn't bite back my nasty grin.

"That... that's just the cold," he announced in Beth's direction. She didn't really seem to understand what he was talking about because her attention was resting on Mick again as he uttered a small laugh. Despite all the excitement he didn't seem to be much worse than earlier this morning and I felt a wave of relief washing over me. If his own lapses didn't mentally bother him so much anymore, then it was more than a good sign. It indicated that he was slowly regaining his faith in himself and I had to admit that we probably owed the biggest part of this positive development to the young woman in his arms. The blissful expression on her face indicated that she enjoyed this closeness to Mick a bit too much which was another reason why I didn't feel good about the thought of leaving my friends for a few days. Already yesterday evening I had realized that it wouldn't take very much longer before certain of Mick's feelings and needs would wake again making everything a little bit more complicated and dangerous and demanding my presence. But the positive end of this very delicate situation showed me on the other hand that I really could and should take this forced time-out as long as Mick was able to keep calm concerning this pretty woman who was so very attached to him. And since all the important people were present...

"I need to go to LA for two days," I simply announced without preface and immediately had everyone's attention.

Frank dropped his gaze sorrowfully as I was sure he had probably hoped that the incident had changed my mind. But Mick and Beth looked at me almost scared.

"What?" it slipped from Mick's lips in disbelief and the fright at my message even caused him to loosen the tight grip around Beth's body so that she could turn around to me.

"You can not be serious," she repeated the sentence that had escaped her lips quite often today.

"Two days," I replied in an almost apologetic tone and was angry at myself at the same time. Since when was _I_ the one who needed the consent of others to take care of an important job?

Logan cleared his throat noticeably. "Could one of you ..."

"Why?" Mick shot the next poignant question at me and pushed me into a role I did not really want: the one of the person who had to defend himself.

"... hand over my clothes?" Logan's voice tried to filter down to us.

"Because there are a few important things that I need to do there," I just replied sharply. 'And that's the end of that!' I wanted to add, but I didn't. These stupid doubts my mind was constantly producing were to blame for that.

"And that cannot wait?" My friend added instantly. Why, oh why did the chattering of his teeth have to stop so soon?

"Hello-o!" Logan lifted a hand to get some attention. "I'm still na-a-ked!"

"No," I responded truthfully in relation to Mick's question. "Otherwise I wouldn't go, believe me." I took a deep breath. "The matter is simply this: I know that you're not feeling that well yet, Mick. But Beth and Frank are at your side and at the moment it looks like you all have everything pretty well under control. In addition, there're four other vampires here in the house that can intervene should the going get tough. The things that have to be done in LA can not be postponed and my presence is absolutely necessary there." I paused and searched Mick's gaze. "But if you tell me that you feel that your condition will deteriorate rapidly over the next few hours and you need me, of course I will stay here."

Mick took my words seriously. I felt that he took stock of himself and finally he nodded.  
"You can go," he said resolutely. "Just remember, we're probably safer here than you will be in LA. You cannot imagine how fast and accurate these people work once they know where you are."

"I can," I replied seriously. "And I'll be on guard"

"Is this a promise that you'll come back," Mick said softly and I could feel how important it was to him to hear from me that I would not let him down in any way.

"Frank?" I could hear Logan moan and the professor finally took pity on him although he was keen to continue listening to our conversation. He walked to the coat hooks to look for the right clothes under Logan's instructions.

"Hey, the one who's able to lure Josef Kostan into a trap hasn't been born yet," I replied as arrogantly as ever. "Two days - no longer."

Mick nodded with a small smile. His eyes flew with mild discomfort to the gray walls of the basement and only at that moment did I realize that this was not necessarily the right environment for Mick to talk. He had simply seen too much of basement walls during the last year. Now that the cold and the excitement slowly came to an end, he was beginning to realize where he was.

"Let's... let's go upstairs to discuss anything further," his next words confirmed my suspicion and Beth reluctantly broke away from their embrace quickly taking one of the blankets. Mick did not seem to be so cold anymore although his pulse was still a bit too fast and now and then a tremor ran through his body. His eyes searched mine again and I answered him with a confident smile. It was somehow a good feeling to know that in Mick's mind there was room again to worry about the world outside this house and to worry about things that no longer directly concerned him. And it had the positive side effect that I was pushed to consider the one thing I had previously not even thought about. My own safety.

The _Legion_ was on guard in LA. They didn't have much to lose and Beth's appearance had shown them that we would not wait forever in our hiding place. They knew that eventually one of us would show up again in the city and they were certainly already on the lookout.


	33. Michael

_*__Yeah! The spring has arrived here in Berlin and I'm so happy about it that I could embrace the whole world! And here's the new chapter. A lot of thanks to my dear review-writers! I loved your comments and I'm so looking forward to the ones for this chapter. So I hope you'll like it. And a big hug to SG6961, who was this time my beta reader, and Cleo, who translated this chapter. Best wishes, yours Jenna!* _

_P.S. Mamashirl: I'm sorry if the last chapter was a bit confusing with the names. The vampire doctor is August Kendlroe and Frank Peterson is the human professor. I'll look it up if there went something wrong. Thanks for your comment!_

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**M****ichael **

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_"__Past does not end on a certain day, it never dies, it just departs, and every word calls it back."_

_Author unknown_

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"Daniel, you're a gem!" Beth couldn't help but press a feather-light kiss onto the cheek of the stunned young man beside her. He had indeed thought of everything: The handy multi-functional radio, the CDs, headphones, another suitcase with clothes and special utensils for women - of course, put together by Simone - and...

Beth took the long package, wrapped in delicate paper, almost tenderly into her hands and raised it reverently to her nose. What a smell! She closed her eyes rapturously, and felt her mouth watering. Then she opened her lids again and gave Daniel, who still seemed to be a bit paralyzed by her kiss, another beaming smile.

"This is so..." She couldn't find the right words that could describe her joy and resisted only with difficulty the fresh impulse to plant another wet demonstration of her gratitude on the young pilot's cheek. She was not quite sure if he would survive it healthy. After all she was old enough to not underestimate her effect on men.

She dropped her shoulders with a small happy sigh but kept the eye contact with him.

"Would you help me to get these things inside?" she asked with an irresistible look. Usually she was a woman who liked to take care of everything by herself and was for certain not about to carry also heavy things alone, but with this precious object in her hands ... She would rather not take the risk that the parcel slipped from her hands and her surprise for Mick came to a sad end on the filthy floor of the farmhouse.

Daniel nodded without hesitation, even though Beth knew that he didn't really like to enter the house in which the vampires lived, and loaded with the remaining things to follow her through the already opened door. Beth's eyes immediately flew over to Mick who was still sitting on the couch on which she had left him at the arrival of the helicopter. Meanwhile he gave anything other than an attentive impression. But nevertheless he looked at them with undisguised curiosity. She turned away from him far too obviously and tried to hide a bit the parcel although he would undoubtedly never guess what was in it - but just in case...

Of course, she only fueled his curiosity on further, but she did not bargain for him to stand up to find out what she hid from him. The old Mick would have been indeed capable of doing that but because he had not really found himself back yet and had, just minutes before the helicopter had landed, given such a feeble impression that she had been afraid he would fall asleep in a sitting position, she was sure he was not endangering her surprise. But Logan who was just pouring himself a glass of blood in the kitchen area was to handle with care. The cheeky look alone he examined her and her escort with told her that.

"You guys from UPS offer better and better service," he grinned broadly at Daniel who smiled back slightly confused, trying to capture the content of Logan's drink not that closely.

"Set the things here," Beth turned to the young man who had visibly slackened just outside the kitchen area and in doing so made clear to him that he didn't need to step further into the lion's den.. She had learned a lot of Daniel on their last flight together, for example, the interesting fact that his own mother, who had worked a long time for Josef, had been turned into a vampire at her own request because of a serious illness a few years ago to continue to look after her family, or that he, even thought vampires were fascinating creatures, rather admired them from afar than to really get in touch with them - except for his mother and Josef. Precisely for this reason Beth didn't want to presume on his good nature any longer and wanted to release him from his obligations as quickly as possible.

Daniel put the things carefully down beside him and gave her a grateful smile. "If you have any other wishes..." he said. "You know how regularly I come here..."

"Oh, ho, ho...," Logan commented on this statement with a big grin and let his eyebrows wander up and down a couple of times but Beth returned Daniel's smile most cordial.

"I'll certainly take you up on it some time," she said and provoked another "Wow!" from Logan's direction. Daniel nodded to her with a very red face once more and then hurried out of the house and also left a polite farewell to Mick and Peterson who were engrossed in a quiet conversation.

Beth walked over to the refrigerator, opened the door under Logan's searching look and.... rolled her eyes irritated. It was a big fridge, but all other shelves except one were filled with the blood bags of the most various blood types and in the shelf for human food was really no room any more, because amazingly someone had thought to fill it up with very tasty things.. But she would make room somehow. She put her parcel gently onto the rack and cautiously began to pack the blood from a not so full shelf into another. However, she was not so distracted that she did not notice how Logan stepped up to the package and reached out a hand for it curiously. Beth reacted quickly - so quickly that even a vampire like Logan had no time to draw his hand back in time. It clapped loudly as Beth palm landed punchy on his fingers and Logan let out an indignant "Ouch!" before he pulled his hand worriedly to his chest and looked at her in shock.

"Hands off!" Beth growled and gave him a menacing look beneath angrily furrowed brows.

"That hurt!" the vampire complained nonetheless.

"As it should be!" Beth got possession of the package again and pushed it carefully into the cleared shelf of the refrigerator. Then she closed it carefully and turned to the still quite indignant Logan. "And just for the record ... If you only _dare_ to look at the package in a conspicuous way, I'll wake you personally on very vamp-unfriendly times in the coming days...."

A moment Logan stared at her open-mouthed. He blinked a few times bewildered. "You ... you're serious about that, aren't you?"

Beth put on her loveliest smile and nodded emphatically. "This is a.... what shall I say...?" Her eyes wandered visibly down his body, "... _bare_ fact."

Logan's desire for further jokes was noticeably gone. He swallowed hard, put his not fully emptied glass onto the shelf and to Beth's own surprise literally took flight. At the door, however, he stopped again and turned to her slightly upset. "It was cold, okay?"

He held her gaze until she nodded with a smirk. "Well, yes," she replied graciously and Logan finally disappeared behind the cellar door.

Beth was pleased with her work. To get rid of a person like Logan so quickly and relatively undramatic was indeed an art and she looked around for Mick and Peterson a little bit proud of herself. But the two were still deep in conversation and had hardly likely noticed her little power struggle with the vampire. Actually it was a good thing.. The less Mick knew of her preparations for the next day the better it was.

Beth strolled to the two men, good-tempered, and then sat down on the other side of the small couch on which Mick was sitting. She forced herself consciously to not take place too close to him, precisely because her need for being as close to him as possible, was so terribly strong at the moment. She had noticed in the last hours that yielding to this urge was certainly not the right way to fight against it. Quite the contrary, this desire, did it look ever so innocent, was a travesty and in this sense couldn't get satisfied because if she really gave in to it, it got instantly transformed into other feelings and desires that she could not permit herself at this time. Even though she loved Mick and her feelings were understandable, they were inappropriate and selfish at the moment and just were completely out of place. Of course, Mick needed her nearness, longed for affection and tenderness, for her warmth and love, that he had made her feel several times. But this sexual tension between them, which had already existed in her first re-encounter about two years ago and had cost her quite a lot of nerves for over a year, had not yet awoken. How could it that soon after this traumatic year? Beth had not even expected that her own desire would come back so quickly and she was a little angry with herself. Insofar the deliberate distance between them was also a small punishment she gave herself... for 'indecent' thoughts...

"... the nutrient preparations, however, are quite important," she picked up the last part of Peterson's sentence and noticed how Mick raised his eyebrows with mild reluctance.

"Why? If I try to have a balanced nutrition... "

"Your body first has to become attuned to handle normal food again," Peterson admonished him. "That's not done overnight, and it won't initially be able to use many of the important nutrients correctly. For that amount of time we need to give it a hand."

Mick lacked the strength to really revolt against the professor's care. His small cure in the freezer had robbed him of more energy than they had previously imagined, more than he had actually wanted to get rid of. He leaned back on the sofa, put his head back and closed his eyes jaded. "Okay," he muttered, without looking up. "But it tastes really disgusting..."

Peterson smiled gently, though Mick could not see it. "I know, Michael, but unfortunately that can't be helped."

Beth frowned confused and Mick at least managed to tilt his head slightly to one side and to look at the professor again who only now seemed to have noticed what he had said.

"When did you start calling me by that name again?" Mick inquired with a smile that wasn't really convincing and Peterson dropped his head guiltily.

"Sorry..." he muttered embarrassed and Beth eyebrows now lifted up while her mind was trying to understand what this was about - before Mick drifted into the land of dreams. It was from second to second more difficult for him to keep his eyelids open and also his posture could hardly be described as sitting upright. The excitement of the last hours took its toll on him. And the warmth of the blankets in which he was still partly wrapped did the rest.

So Mick responded to Peterson's comment only with a light lifting of the fingers of his hand, which lay limply on his thigh, and closed his eyes again.

Even if Beth had really liked to find out what this confusion of names was about - her need to see to it that Mick was well was stronger.

"Don't you want to lie down?" she turned to him gently. "There's still enough room on the couch..."

'Oho, Turner!' the annoying voice of reason was echoing in her mind. 'That's surely not a poor attempt to get him closer to you again, is it?'

Mick had visible difficulties to open his eyes again. "I for sure don't sleep that early at day-time..." he replied with a drawling voice and lifted his head sluggishly. "That's only because of the cold from earlier ... I'm ... I'm not really tired..."

Beth's lips curled into a smirk against her will. "I see," she said simply and noticed from the corner of her eye that Peterson had to hide his smile behind a hand.

Mick crossed his arms over his chest wearily but then decided to rather use one hand for propping up his head a little bit because it seemed to have become just too heavy.

"When was the last time you slept really long?" Beth probed. "I mean completely without medical aid?"

Mick looked at her with heavy eyelids. "Define 'really long'..."

"At least seven or eight hours..."

He thought hard of it - of course he had to close his eyes in doing so. ""The last time I had been a human..." he finally managed to say but forgot to open his eyes again while talking. Instead he remembered at least to smile non-committal. "Vampires get along with far less hours of sleep..."

"Yes, that's true," Peterson barged in. "But only because they are most of the time anyhow in a quiescent state in which their bodies can recover."

Mick gave a little laugh and put his head back onto the rest of the sofa. "You're really a walking vampire encyclopedia, Frank," it slipped only very inarticulately from his lips.

The professor smiled but seemed to feel flattered by this remark because his cheeks flushed suspiciously. Beth, however, still looked at him blankly.

"What exactly do you mean?" she probed really interested.

"The slow heartbeat, the low body temperature, the low blood pressure..." the professor began to enumerate. "These are similar processes for example to the ones proceeding in the body of a bear in hibernation and it serves two purposes: first, the slowing down of the activities of the vampire hormones and secondly to allow the energy to run on a very low level again and rather keep all produced inside themselves. This is also the reason why vampires don't submit warmth to the outside. Everything natural, of course..."

"And the one who's sleeping constantly, doesn't need to go to bed and close his eyes," Beth added thoughtfully, and nodded. "Understandable..."

Her gaze slid to Mick whose head had just sagged to one side and again a smile appeared on her lips. He was now a human and had to learn again to bow to the laws of the nature of this species - even if he was afraid of his dreams and would need a while to trust the peace around him in such a way to sleep balanced. He of all people needed rest and sleep so But somehow he refused to see it because the next moment his head jerked up again and he ripped open his lids, which began to sink down in the next second again.

That sight was hardly bearable. Beth reacted without thinking about it. She leaned toward him, seized the drowsy Mick on his arm and pulled so that he, powerless as he was, sank easily to the side and his head came down on her thigh. She felt a slight reluctance and how he tensed to bop up again, and simply put an arm over his shoulder, showing him with gentle pressure she would not permit that.

"Just for a minute," she said softly and let him turn around a bit to be able to look at her. "If you don't fall asleep, you can do whatever you want to..."

"That's really..."

Beth silenced him by just putting a finger on his lips.

"One minute," she repeated.. For a moment he wrestled with himself, then took a deep, heavy breath, and finally nodded.. It was hard for Beth to take her finger away again because his lips were so wonderfully soft and warm but she did. She only failed in moving her hand completely away from him. Instead, it came down on his chest. Where else could she place it without getting into a completely cramped posture? And possibly he would feel rejected by her then...

Of course, he frantically tried to keep his eyes open to prove that she was mistaken, but he hadn't reckoned with his exhausted body.. After only a few seconds his lids had sagged halfway through, and his breathing got even calmer and more balanced. Well, a lying posture had fatal effects when sleep was really needed.

"What did the pilot bring along for you?" Peterson tore her from her thoughts and she reluctantly turned her attention to the older man whom she had almost forgotten.

"Oh, this and that," she evaded the question. "Women sometimes need a few more things than men..."

"Oh, yes...," Peterson admitted and his face flushed slightly.. Wonderful. Then he would definitely not ask on and her surprise was safe. Beth eyes wandered back to Mick's face and her heart made a delighted leap when she found out that his eyes were now completely closed and sleep had overpowered him. Of course he didn't sleep really deeply but it was a start. And he looked so peaceful, so relaxed. It was not easy to resist the urge to follow the contours of his face with her finger and so she allowed herself at least do so with her eyes ... to skim over his stubbly cheek along his clear-cut chin, to glide up on his dimple, to follow the curve of his so luscious lips... and these illegally long eyelashes ...

‚Turner! 'Turner! Catch yourself again! There's still another person in the room with you!'

Beth looked up almost caught, but Frank met her gaze with this warmth and this paternal understanding which often seemed to assail him when he watched the two of them in acting with each other.

"You do him so well," the Professor uttered in a whisper and from his voice spread the same warmth as from his eyes.

Beth's cheeks flushed a little bit, but she returned his smile with all cordiality.

"He currently receives far too little sleep," the Professor continued softly. "So it's no wonder that his nerves are overwrought that quickly..."

She nodded, but for some reason a very different thought pushed itself to the fore front of her mind again – one that had almost slipped her memory. Even if she enjoyed the current peace and the old man's affection, it was something that she had to talk about urgently ...

"Frank, would you answer me a question?"

The professor hesitated a little bit as if he sensed that the following talk could get quite uncomfortable for him but finally he nodded and looked at her invitingly.

"Who's Michael?"

A sad smile passed over his lips. "I knew you would ask that." He had to collect himself for a moment, took a heavy breath. "My son. He was my son."

"Oh," was the only comment that she could give. She had almost guessed it but still felt a little bit uncomfortable in her skin. Even if she had been a reporter for a long time, she didn't like digging around in other people's painful memories. Nevertheless, she felt that it was important to know what connection there was between Mick and Peterson's son.

For a brief moment there was silence between them. Peterson gazed into space. He dwelled on his own melancholy thoughts and memories and Beth was almost afraid that he would say nothing more on this subject but then his eyes wandered back to her face.

"He's so much like him," the old man uttered only very softly, his warm gaze now rested on Mick's face. "Not just the way he looks ... just the way he moves, how he speaks ... this vitality, this temperament in his eyes..." Peterson shook his head touched. "And this will power, this strength... When they brought him to me, I..." The professor couldn't go on speaking. The emotions his memories triggered inside him were so severe that he once had to breathe in deeply to collect himself. "I ... I thought at first they brought in Michael. He ... he was not tranquilized properly anymore and fought them tooth and nail. But he recognized me. He looked at me directly and..."

Again the old man stopped and Beth took the opportunity to throw a quick appraising glance at Mick too. She was relieved that he really was sleeping soundly. He probably would have shown a reaction on this issue long since if he had heard anything of this.

She heard how Peterson shakily breathed in and out and raised her head again. The old man's eyes had filled with tears he bravely tried to blink away. His chin quivered suspiciously, too.

"It was ... as if God had sent me a sign," he said scarcely audible. "As if he said: Come to your senses at last! Realize in which crime you take part! You kill everything that your son has ever lived and breathed for..." Again, he needed a break to collect himself.

"I thought you wanted to stop already with these attempts before," Beth put in cautiously.

"Yes, my reason really wanted that," Peterson admitted softly. "But I ... I couldn't really do it. Before they brought me Mick I had no longer worked on living objects, but I had not really stopped. The scientist in me had pushed me to at least continue my work in the laboratory. You know... within the last two years we had achieved such progress, had made so many new discoveries..." His voice died away, shocked by his own enthusiasm, which wanted to boil up again within him. He shook his head.. "I have produced the serums that others have then tested on living creatures. Just because I have not worked in person with these vampires it still doesn't makes a better person of me. "Quite the contrary."

Peterson's eyes rested again for a while on Mick's face. "I just needed Mick to really wake up and gather the strength to fight against this inhuman scientist in me and escape."

"You must have loved your son dearly," Beth noted very lowly and she could see the pain of the loss flashing through the old man again. "But what has he got to do with this whole thing?"

Peterson looked at his slightly trembling hands, and now had great difficulty in answering her question. Beth gave him the time he needed to compose himself, so far, to speak again.

"He..." Peterson swallowed hard. "He was the reason for my work... for my search for a cure for disease and death..."

"He was sick?"

The old man nodded and wiped the tears from his face, which now wanted to run down his cheeks. "Michael was... He was a good man... one of these idealists, of these people who believe that other people's problems concern them, that everyone has the duty to help others wherever he can to make this world at least a little bit better and brighter." The professor took a heavy breath. "He studied medicine and went for the termination of his education to Africa to work in various areas of the _Doctors Without Borders_. All were enthusiastic about him, of his commitment to helping, his energy and his strong will to help where he could."

"Did he get infected there?" Beth probed carefully.

"No," Peterson replied, shaking his head. "He came back sick, but not because he'd been infected by some dangerous tropical disease. He would have also become ill here. He ... he had the _Goodpasture's syndrome_..."

Apparently one could tell that Beth was at loose ends with this term for the professor immediately continued with a heavy heart: "This is a very rare, severe autoimmune disease that primarily affects the kidneys and lungs. It hits only one person in a million..." He let out a sad laugh.. "One in a million!" The professor shook his head as if he could still not believe that of all people this disease had come upon his son.

"And it is not curable," he added softly. "There are drugs that inhibit the disease, and other expensive treatments, but when it comes to a setback..." The professor did not go on. On the one hand because the issue punished him so much, on the other hand also because he had noticed that they weren't alone anymore. His eyes were stuck at the entrance of the living area and as Beth followed his gaze she also discovered the tall, dark-blond vampire who stood there, leaning against the wall and watching them very interested.

"And your ... your son received a setback," she nevertheless asked, anxious not to turn the professor loose so quickly. She wanted to know what had moved that man to become such an unscrupulous scientist and why Mick had been able to bring him back on the right path.

Peterson looked at her again. For the blink of an eye she thought he was going to back down now that Josef also attended the short journey into the past. But then he took a deep breath and continued: "Yes. But ... I still don't know if he had really died on it."

Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Basically, _I_ killed him..." he added only very softly. "My wife and I... as we learned of his illness, we were so helpless and so desperate. A friend advised us to seek a self-help association for the parents of terminally ill people to get advice and comfort there and then there I met this man ... His name was Ethan Crane. I know now that it was not his real name. He told me that his daughter was suffering from Sarkoidose at the stage four and that he wasn't willing to put his trust only in the treating doctors. He would have put a lot of money in his own medical research and would have made some interesting discoveries..." Peterson sighed heavily once again. "Of course, he had aroused my interest immediately with his stories, as I had set myself as well into a research laboratory long since to not sit idly around and instead at least do _some_thing." Peterson took off his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes and cheeks with one hand.

"We met again and again or phoned," he continued with his confession, "and he told me that he had found a substance that maybe could be the key to the cure of all illnesses of the world, but on the other side in its current state is very dangerous for each person... "

"Vampire blood," it came from the entrance and now Josef decided to really participate in the conversation and approached them slowly. Even if he actually already had to be on the road this thing here seemed to justify a postponement of his departure.

Peterson nodded affected. "I had no idea what it was about, and asked him to leave me a little of it to begin my own research with it."

"He obviously did," Josef knew and settled in the chair next to the professor.

"Well, at first he acted as if he had to struggle badly with himself to do it, but at some point he brought it to me then," said Peterson. "And I immediately started the research. It... it was unbelievable. The things this material could do with damaged cells, how it reacted with human blood or other chemical substances..." Peterson lacked even at this moment the words.. "Of course, I immediately noticed how aggressively the substance responded to the red blood cells and the damage it could inflict on a human metabolism, but I was firmly convinced that I would be able to manage to filter out the positive effects and use them against deadly diseases.. I worked day and night at it... for months and then Michael got his setback and…" Again his voice failed him and this time it didn't seem as if it returned quickly.

"You've infected him with the blood," Beth concluded from his silence, shaken.

Peterson took several heavy breaths to be able to answer her. "Not with the pure blood..." he whispered. "I would never have done that. But he... he suffered so much... I ... I just couldn't let him die that way..." The tears were back, and now the old man let them go easily.. "He... he even agreed to it. He just wanted to finally stop the pain... And that is what happened. He was really feeling better after a few hours. I thought I had found a miracle cure..."

"But then he transformed," Josef noted factually and Peterson nodded stricken with pain and grief.

"Not the way this usually happens," he added with a broken voice. "These hormones were too weak. The vampire blood was diluted too much. It was more of a creeping transformation. He was nervous and unbalanced and hungry. And at some point it went quickly down with his circulation. I thought he would die and called Ethan in my panic. But he only made me more nervous because he yelled at me and said I should lock Michael up somewhere and make sure no one gets close to him until his men arrive. And..." Peterson buried his face in his hands and Beth knew that the memories got the better of him now with a vengeance and brought back the horror of that fateful day, he had so long been able to suppress. "When I... when I came back into the room..." He stopped for breathing was now obviously difficult for him. "...I will never forget that sight... My wife ... she had stayed with him..."

"Oh, my God," Beth gasped in horror and her hand automatically shot up to her mouth. What a cruel fate!

"He had drained her," Josef said and Beth knew he was right, although for the lack of emotion he spoke with she punished him with an angry glance.

Peterson didn't respond to his statement. He didn't even look at them anymore. His gaze rested on Mick's form, while in mute despair tears were continuously running down his cheeks.

"He attacked you, when you tried to save her," Josef went on for the old man. "But somehow you survived it ... Did Did Ethan's people come?"

Now the professor responded with a nod, but he could still not look at Josef.

"Did they kill Michael?"

"He ... he was only twenty-eight," the professor uttered choked. "Twenty-eight! And he was _not_ a monster ... He didn't need to die... they... they simply didn't give him chance..." The sobbing coming from Peterson's throat, hit Beth's heart painfully. She felt a strong urge to take the old man into her arms and comfort him, but she knew that she could not move without waking up Mick. So she stayed where she was and tried to show the professor at least with her looks how very sorry she was for him. He may have done great mistakes in his life, had become a fanatical scientist, but basically there was only one thing behind all his actions: his great love for his son. He had lost within a few hours the two people who had been his world. This time the silence between them lasted for a while. The sobbing of the professor and the hum of the refrigerator in the background were the only sounds heard. Even Josef didn't seem to know what he could say and Beth could feel that even he had been taken by a wave of compassion. He looked at his fingernails quite suspiciously and then started to pluck at the sleeves of his shirt... in Josef's case a clear sign that he had to struggle with, for him, very unpleasant feelings.

Peterson calmed down slowly.. He fumbled with trembling fingers a crumpled handkerchief from his pants and blew his nose as softly as he was able to. Beth held her breath for a moment, when Mick's head moved to one side. But to her relief he didn't open his eyes but only inhaled deeply and then lay still again. Maybe it had not necessarily been the wisest idea to touch in his presence on such a theme but now they stuck in the middle of it and there were still a few things Beth urgently had to know. "Why... why did you go on with the research," she asked gently, after she had waited a few heartbeats to other reactions of Mick.

"I didn't," the Professor sniffed. "Anyhow, not immediately. Everything that happened around me was so strange at once. Ethan scared me that one might accuse me of having murdered my family, so I accepted it that they camouflaged it all as an accident, let burn the bodies in a fire. I was completely irresponsible for a while. But I at least had the strength to distance myself from Ethan. I never wanted to have anything to do with him again. At some point I started to work again. I accepted a professorship at the university and could lead a normal life for a while. But the thought of the vampire blood, the memories of the experience wouldn't let go of me. Of course, I had saved a bit of it and I started with the research again." Peterson noticed the change in Josef's look that accompanied his report, and quickly raised his hand deprecatingly.

"I never thought at that time to experiment with human beings again," he interjected quickly. "I've worked only with human cells, while trying to make myself acquainted by all available means on the species of vampires."

"And Ethan didn't contact you anew?" Josef inquired suspiciously. One could tell he had to struggle with his temper.

"No," Peterson replied a little bit intimidated and put his glasses back on. "They left me alone for quite a while, but I'm now sure that they had watched each of my steps, monitored my every action in detail. Eventually, I got something sent by an anonymous donor. A herbal remedy that had a huge impact on the vampire's blood."

"Coraline's cure..." said Josef understanding and Peterson knitted his brows in surprise. Then it seemed to dawn on him, whereof the vampire was speaking. He nodded several times.

"I didn't want to examine it, let alone use it for my research because I knew exactly who had sent it to me. But the temptation was just too big. And my research made such progress with that..."

"But some day, the people of the _Legion_ Legion came back to you, right?" Beth now barged in again.

"They didn't_come_ to me," to me",protested the professor upset. "They _assailed_ me in the middle of the night in my house and pulled me out of my bed, abducted me against my will! I would never have worked with them voluntarily and they knew it!"

"Where did they take you to?" Beth wanted to know.

"To some remote laboratory. And there they made me realize that if I did not cooperate, these people would be willing to destroy my whole life."

"That's why you preferred to torture and kill vampires," said Josef with a false smile. Apparently his compassion was completely gone as his eyes gave the professor this cold, hateful glance with which he had always looked at the old man at the very beginning – as if Peterson was a cockroach he would love to squash. Josef was really an artist in rapidly getting worked up about negative feelings...

The professor looked at him shocked but he did not even try to talk his way out of this. "Yes, I did," he said. "And I would love to say with conviction that I only did it because they forced me to. But I ... I also have this scientific side in me and after a while you are immune to scruples, to former values and attitudes to morality. You only have this higher goal in mind, this opportunity to change the life on this planet sustainably, to make it better. And if you still have people around you who try to persuade you that you simply have to make certain sacrifices for the greater good, that the creatures you're working with are already badly ill and lost creatures, then you start to really believe in that..." The professor shirked from Josef's piercing eyes and looked instead at Beth, in the hope that she would show more understanding to him. But even she wasn't able to do this, for her there were borders in all domains of life that just weren't allowed to be crossed. No one had the right to let other creatures suffer so that in the end the whole human kind felt better - especially not when it was humans who had to suffer for other humans, because to Beth vampires were now nothing more than humans with special skills and a special lifestyle.

"I always thought you admired vampires, even worship them in some way," she objected blankly.

"That's what I do," Peterson said contritely. "I think they are fascinating creatures that are superior to humans in so many things. Nevertheless, I was always aware that they are ill in some way, that they have weaknesses as well, against which we can do something." He sighed. "I know ... I've done things that I am not proud of myself. I even despise and hate myself for having done them. I was out of my mind for a while. But one day I looked into the mirror and noticed that I had become a monster that had no morality, had no conscience anymore and I decided to change that, to do penance. Only it was terribly difficult and the temptation to go on, just so terribly huge. I needed someone like Mick to really wake me up, to remind me of who I had been once and for whom I had lived and fought. And it dawned on me painfully clearly that with the attempt to find out why my son had had to die, I had completely forgotten for which values he had _lived_ and fought. He wouldn't have wanted me to do such things. He would have been aghast of what I had become."

Peterson looked anxiously back over to Josef, who had not delivered the smallest stir in the last minutes.. Also Beth felt how tense her friend was and how great his grudge against the professor.

"You have to trust me at last, that in the moment when I met Mick, I really tried to change," the professor craved. "I have protected him as well as I could and I have repeatedly tried to help him to escape. I ... I had the feeling to have a chance to make amends for what had happened my son and so many other vampires through my hand."

Beth nodded now. "Eventually, you have saved him.. We probably would have come too late. We only had a chance to find him because you had previously escaped with him."

Josef uttered a disapproving snort and stood up. "Shall we now be grateful as well?" he asked irritably.

"No, I would never expect that," Peterson said quickly. "I just want you both to know that I will do anything to help Mick - for the whole rest of my miserable existence. I ... I think that's my task, my mission..."

The vampire let out an angry laugh. "Given by God or what?"

Peterson did not answer, but only lowered his eyes and Josef angrily shook his head. "Anyway ... _My_ mission for you currently contains roughly the same, especially for the days I won't be here. I've spoke with August and he will acquiesce in your instructions. So if anything happens to Mick during my absence, I know, to whom I have to turn to..."

Josef's eyes went to Beth and the look in them immediately changed, got gentle and friendly. "I take a cell phone with me you can reach me with in cases of emergency - _only_ in cases of emergency. Then I'll head for the way back instantly and will be back within a maximum of one hour."

It was actually not a question, but Beth still felt obliged to nod. The sudden atmosphere of departure overcame her a bit even though she knew very well that the helicopter out there was just waiting for Josef. But her thoughts were still wrapped too much in the professor's tragic story. She felt slightly upset and vulnerable. Although at the moment everything was so peaceful, she didn't like the idea of losing Josef for two days. He had been able to give her over the last year a similar feeling of safety like Mick. And as Mick still wasn't really his old self again and was rather dependent on help from others...

The deeply pensive, slightly worried look Josef now gave her, somewhat puzzled her. "Be careful," he finally said more quietly, his eyes now roamed over Mick. "Don't forget that it's not that long ago since he has regained the control over himself. He could lose it again easily, and as we have seen today also his human side is sometimes a bit uncontrolled and not really harmless."

"He won't hurt me," she wanted to reassure him but Josef shook his head with a small smile.

"I know that - at least as long as _you_ do nothing that might upset him," he said.

"I won't," Beth promised with a slight frown. She didn't really understand what Josef was driving at.

"No matter if in a negative or positive way..." he added.

Positive way? Oh... It slowly dawned on Beth at what Josef was hinting here so subtly, and her blood immediately shot into her face. Vampires really had an extraordinarily sensitive perception. How embarrassing ... She shirked quickly from his penetrating look, but nodded clearly. Of course, she would be able to brace herself on that score. She knew herself that Mick was as a vampire _and_ as a man too unpredictable to allow it to happen that certain natural needs got awoken in him so early. At first he had to come to terms with the most ordinary things of everyday life again. And concerning her own needs it surely had only been a short, quick passing attack of weakness. She as well simply needed first and foremost peace and quiet after the hard time she had went through. For everything else later, there was still enough time.

"Good," said Josef and Beth finally raised her eyes, "I'll set off now..." He gave a somewhat indecisive, hesitant impression - something that was quite unusual for Josef Kostan and Beth felt clearly how hard it was for him to say good-bye to them. His gaze rested for a while on Mick's relaxed face and when he met her eyes, she gave him a warm smile.

"Come back safe and sound, okay?" she said softly.

Josef didn't say anything else. But he returned her smile so sincerely and lovingly, that a warm, comforting feeling spread in her chest, a feeling that was able to banish her fears and worries from her mind and let her look into the future full of optimism - at least for this moment. Even when Josef had left the room and the door was closed behind him, the feeling stayed. Beth looked at the sleeping man in her arms, smiling, and involuntarily she raised her hand to his face and gently let her fingers glide over his rough cheek. He was too fast asleep to wake up through that touch but she pulled her finger back quickly. Apparently, the attack of weakness, was not yet really over... She took a deep breath. It would be silly to think she wouldn't get the knack of such a trifle! Two days - what were two days?


	34. Unrest

_*__It's Sunday and the new chapter is out. Thanks for your reviews again! Really need that kind of support. Thanks a lot to SG6961 again for the beta reading. I hope you all enjoy the next chapter and leave me a little comment. Best wishes, yours Jenna!* _

* * *

**U****nrest**

* * *

_**"Nothing shows us so clearly what we cling to like the mourning about its loss."**_

_**  
**__**Peter Amendt **_

_**

* * *

  
**_

_I sensed that something was wrong even before I entered the small apartment where we had accommodated Alejandro with his family temporarily. __Already on the stairs to the second floor of the house this peculiar gloom assailed me, this energetic tingling, which I always felt if danger was in delay and which had saved me so many times in my life. So I paused for a moment on the landing and listened into the strange silence that had alighted on the building like a dark veil of evil. I tried to discern sounds, which could let me guess what I had to prepare myself for. __But there was nothing - only this cold, oppressive silence. __My keen scent, however, perceived something, a delicate fragrance I usually enjoyed but in this moment worried me deeply: human blood. I hesitated no longer, but hurried off down the hall, past the many doors of the small flats. The smell of blood grew stronger, mingled with another one, well known to me. Vampires had been here and they too had received injuries, also the smell of their blood impregnated the air in a very unpleasant way. __I could smell adrenaline, testosterone and Cortisol, and knew immediately that there had been a violent fight. And I smelled fear and despair…_

_My heartbeat had adopted a fairly rapid pace as I stopped in front of the door, and my worst fears became a terrible certainty when I realized that it wasn't locked. __Someone had entered the apartment by force and had literally pried the door off the lock. I took a deep breath, tried to calm me down inwardly and at the same time to anticipate the worst. __It wasn't that I had really set my heart on the people we were hiding here – for I didn't know them long enough - but Mick had called me only half an hour ago from the apartment because he had visited the family together with Marisa and __Guillermo and had realized that Alejandro had went grocery shopping unreasonably. __I refused to believe it, but I also thought to perceive Mick's smell among the many impressions flooding my senses - the smell of his blood… I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the hammering of my heart and the seething inside me, tried to concentrate on my senses. __With 400 years of life experiences they were trained enough to sense the presence of other vampires, even if I was terribly upset - but there was no one except…_

_Now, nothing could stop me anymore. I pushed open the door and rushed into the hallway of the apartment, hurried into the small living room and stopped there in shock. There__ hadn't been many pieces of furniture in the small apartment, but none of them had come through the brutal fight unscathed. __Even the word 'chaos' couldn't describe correctly the sight that presented itself to me. The rampant destructiveness of the attackers could even shake such an old vampire like me. __Shards, wood splinters, scraps of cloth, shredded, gutted pillows… My eyes flew over the overturned couch, the destroyed wooden table, the pushed over wardrobe and finally stuck to a frozen form, which was half buried under the wardrobe._

"_Mick…" I gasped with horror. I rushed toward him, braced myself against the wardrobe and set it back onto its remaining three legs. Relief shot through my tensed body as I noticed that 'just' a wooden stake stuck in his chest and his eyes were looking at me motionless and in speechless terror. He wasn't dead… not dead… Whatever the reason was that they had let him live, I couldn't do anything against the small feeling of gratitude in my chest as I knelt beside him. He'd have to suffer some bruises and injuries that weren't healed completely yet and had probably badgered his attackers quite a bit. The bloods on his knuckles smelled strange and under the nails of one of his hands were flaps of skin._

_I inhaled deeply again, then wordlessly grabbed the stake with both hands and pulled it out of his chest with a swift movement. Mick uttered a pained sound, doubled up for a moment and then rolled aside anemic. __It always took a moment until the body of a vampire had recovered from such impalement because the rapidly starting healing process took all his energy. __But Mick didn't give himself that time. __With the will power of a desperate man he rose on all fours, pulled himself up onto the overturned couch and, while trying to climb over it, fell halfway onto the other side._

"_Mick, what the hell…" I started but my voice broke off when I saw what was dragging him there so urgently. __There was another human form, hidden behind a shattered chair that Mick now pushed aside with an awkward movement. __He stopped for a moment, breathing heavily and swaying, and then fell down on his knees next to the lifeless body. __His arms trembled as he reached out for the young woman and then pulled her with a suppressed cry of pain that set my teeth on edge into his arms. __My stomach did a painful twist when I realized, whose blood I had smelled the whole time, and I was overwhelmed with such a strong wave of sympathy that for the first time in a long while my throat contracted and I couldn't utter a single word. Lead by a natural instinct, I climbed over the couch and crouched down next to Mick. He had closed his eyes and buried his face in Marisa's soft, dark hair, while his body slightly moved back and forth as if he was rocking her to sleep. His cheek muscles twitched and reflected the struggle of emotions inside him but he couldn't stop the tears breaking away from his thick eyelashes and a suppressed sob rising from his throat._

_I wanted to comfort him so dearly but I didn't know how to do that. Instead, the sight of his suffering caused my own eyes start to burn and this numb feeling in my stomach to spread on and on in my body. Really a great help._

"_This is… my fault… my fault," Mick uttered with a broken voice and looked at me with such despair that it left me speechless again. "I… I did this to her…"_

_I cleared my throat to get the lump out off it. __"That's nonsense," I uttered a little hoarsely. __"_They_ did this… and they will pay for it, Mick…" _

_My friend stared into the gray face of the young Mexican, breathing heavily, then he let her glide to the ground gently. __I could see a laceration on one side of her head, but when I saw the wounds on her neck, I knew that she had not died of that. __It dawned on me slowly, what Mick was driving at. One of the wounds had been firmly closed, even though it seemed to be relatively fresh. The other two wounds were larger and still bleeding. __They had been inflicted on her by force and with the intention to cause the highest possible blood loss in a short time. __Someone had drawn on her and then had simply let her bleed to death - and probably before Mick's eyes when he had been paralyzed by the wooden stake in his chest. They had somehow known that he had to have a stronger emotional bond to his Freshie as was common in our circles. They had punished him for his battle readiness, for his commitment to the human. Such cruel creatures… _

"_If she hadn't been my Freshie…" Mick didn't go on. He ran a trembling hand over his face. __  
__ "You were not her first vampire, Mick," I said softly. "She had provided her blood for many vampires before and was always well aware of the danger in their proximity. And she was the first one who tangled with Sanchez. She had riskily played with her life to rescue her relatives. She was simply too brave for a human and probably she would have also been killed if you hadn't drank her blood."_

_Mick looked at me and I was not really sure if my words had found his approval. It was really a pity that this thing had happened to him of all people. He was still so young and so terribly sensitive when it came to the loss of people who meant something to him. I was really lucky that his relationship with Marisa had developed so tentatively and he had not really gotten involved with her. Otherwise her death would probably have knocked him out completely. Relationships between vampires and humans were simply not advisable – I hoped he had learned his lesson now._

"_How… how many were there?" I tried to distract him and was successful. The expression in Mick's eyes changed from deep sadness into abyssal hate._

"_Six. But Sanchez was not there." I could see how he started to think again. His hate now joined with great concern. "They have taken Isabella and the little one, after…" His gaze roamed back to Marisa. He reached out a hand to her, gently caressed her pale face and her neck. He paused at the thin necklace that she had actually worn at all times. At first I thought he would flinch because it was made of silver, but apparently it was rather white gold, because Mick's fingers glided along the necklace and opened the clasp at her nape to take the jewelry. I didn't quite understand why he did this but I knew he had his reasons. For a moment, Mick stared at the cross at the end of the chain that almost looked like a flower, swinging back and forth, and then he let it disappear in his hand._

"_Guillermo wanted to search for Alejandro. We need to find the two before Sanchez does," he uttered tensed and we rose at the same time. I was really glad that Mick was able to turn into battle mode so quickly. Repression and rage were quite excellent instruments to get oneself back under control. "And maybe they have even a clue where they took Isabella and Manolo." _

"_I have a better idea," I said, and Mick's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. _

"_Just come with me," I added_.

* * *

It was odd in which unusual situations thoughts and memories sometimes attacked your mind and how fast and far they could carry you away. Thereby this loss of the sense of time and space wasn't really harmless, for it let you remain motionless for a little while, no matter what you had just done or you were about to do.

I had to give a strange picture, as I sat on the bed, half naked with a sock in my hand, one leg put over the other one to clothe my foot, but now completely frozen, dwelling on my memories. Fortunately, no one could see me like that, for I was in a darkened room in which only through the gaps of the heavy, drawn curtains fell a bit of dimmed light - no one, except perhaps Simone, Simone who was basically to blame that I remembered these unpleasant events. For days I had succeeded to keep her out of my thoughts and worries. Our telephonic contacts had only limited to exchange important information and arrange the things in L.A. for me so far that at least my company did not have to suffer from my absence. No billing-and-cooing, no emotions, no emotional scenes. She had made it easy for me to concentrate on the most important things to do and had supported me wherever she could. Precisely her professionalism, her ability to cut back on her own needs in favor of the more pressing things, was something I had always been fascinated by and at the same time made her so attractive to me. Most women lacked it. There were just a few who in a developing relationship latched onto you as little as Simone did. That was indeed the only reason I was ready to call the thing between us a relationship. And now I was sitting here and for the first time in a long while I bothered about whether I was putting her in grave danger through my contact with her. And not only that ... I wondered how it would feel to lose her, how_ I_ would react if something similar to Marisa's fate happened to her. Of course, our relationship was more intense, more physical than the one of Mick and Marisa, but it was on the other hand also not comparable with the feelings I had had for Sarah and, if I was honest, still cherished. I was not sure if I really loved her. I appreciated her, lusted for her and the imagination to lose her was quite painful in some ways. But love? Had I missed her? I hadn't allowed myself to think of her, and it had worked. Could this work if you really loved someone?

I blinked once, twice to free me from my half-trance and turned to her a little bit. She was lying on her belly and her auburn hair was spilled like a shining veil over her slim, bare back. Only a thin, silky sheet covered the lower part of her body, not really hiding the seductive curves of her body. If I hadn't been afflicted with these damn memories, Simone would have been awakened by me in a very pleasant way from her brief sleep. But that way, with these dramatic pictures in my head and with all the thoughts that attached to them in just seconds ... I took a deep, regretful breath and was now finally able to put on my second sock and a shirt. Now wasn't the right moment to deal with relationship issues and possible deeper feelings. I got up and walked over to the living room of the suite I had rented - of course under a false name - for the two days that I had to stay in LA.

My cell phone was still lying on the flat glass table and when I picked it up, I was relieved that no one had tried to call me, nor any dramatic e-mail or text message had arrived. Of course, hardly anyone had this number since I had changed my cell phone just yesterday again, but among these 'hardly-anyone'- persons were also after all Beth and the others. Now nearly twenty hours had passed since I had left my friends, and yet no one had given me a shout – actually a good sign, but somehow I couldn't really trust this peacefulness. I winced violently when suddenly the phone began to vibrate in my hand, so that it flew a short distance into the air and fell onto the couch and from there took a little jump onto the floor. I almost threw myself on the poor thing and ripped it up to my ear.

"Yes!" I uttered indeed a little out of breath and with a heavily pounding heart. What a nuisance!

"Josef?"  
What a silly question! The guy still had to know whom he had just phoned - but at least his voice was not too familiar to me.

"It's Guillermo."

I noticed a whole mountain range falling off my mind and I really had to brace myself, not to give off a deep sigh of relief.

"I'm down in the lobby," he continued. "Didn't we make an appointment?"

I glanced at my watch. The boy was right - I was already fifteen minutes late. That happened, if you had to go without the pleasures of life for such a long time. When you finally had the opportunity to savor it again, you could soon forget that you only had very little time and there were other important things that you had to worry about.

"I've been detained," I replied calmly, put the phone between my shoulder and ear and began to button up my shirt quickly. Behind me I heard a faint noise and knew that Simone was now awake and had just entered the room. Not so good...

"I'll be with you in five minutes," I promised nevertheless and didn't wait until he hung up, but just threw the phone back on the couch. I grabbed the jacket, which hung next to me on the backrest of an armchair and put it also on quickly as I turned to Simone with a favorable smile.

She was wrapped in the thin silk sheet and looked so incredibly seductive to me that my blood immediately flowed into the lower regions of my body, causing there a great turmoil.

"You're leaving yet again?" she asked, visibly disappointed, and brushed her slightly tousled hair off her beautiful face in an enchanting gesture. My eyes fell on the fine marks on her neck and to my newly awakening carnal desire now also added a certain vampire appetite. I stepped close to her and gave her a gentle smile as I lifted a hand to her cheek and let my fingers run over the velvety soft skin.

"I have a lot to do," I said softly, and the regret in my voice was indeed not played. Usually, I allowed myself plenty of time concerning the satisfaction of my needs. I could indeed spend several days in bed with a woman. Was she additionally a human, I didn't even need to leave the bed for a short time to fortify myself. Oh, blissful vampire existence! Unfortunately, _time_ was currently something I didn't really possess - as much as I wished for it at this very moment.

"Are they really not able to shift for themselves a little bit longer?" it slipped softly from Simone's lips and she looked at me with that innocent smile that was getting within only a heartbeat a fairly salacious expression. One of her hands touched my chest and roamed to the collar of my shirt up to my nape, while the other one continued holding the sheet, hiding her well-formed body from my greedy eyes. "I thought you said Mick is much better since Beth is back."

I took a deep breath, wrenched from her grasp with some difficulty, and walked over to the couch, where I had left my shoes.

"Yes," I agreed with her statement and sat down on the couch to put on my shoes. "But that carries also certain risk."

Simone's beautifully curved eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Mick cannot become overnight the person he once was," I explained patiently. "He has made immense progress but he still has to struggle with his body, his emotions, and above all with his trauma. He's still slightly lacking self-control - as a human and all the more as a vampire."

"Beth is a strong woman," Simone returned and now also began to pick up her scattered clothes in the living room. "And she can probably help him better than anyone else..."

I nodded half-heartedly. "Yes, if she has herself under control..."

Simone stopped in her movement and looked at me in amazement. Then she laughed. "She's unlikely to dart at Mick and force him into doing something he doesn't want to do..."

"No, but I doubt that she will _prevent_ him from doing something with her, what she _badly_ wants," I replied with a small grin. Why did women always act as if their thoughts and wishes were merely chaste and pure? In my long life I had met so many women who were every bit as greedy and sex-addicted as men - they just never wanted to admit it.

Simone returned my smile with that frivolous look and in doing so caused a strong pull in my lumbar region. Something stirred that wasn't allowed to stir. Five minutes were such a damn short time frame...

"Is that so reprehensible?" she said in that tantalizing voice and I quickly avoided her gaze. World economic crisis ... losses into the millions - that thought always helped!

"Not reprehensible - but dangerous," I replied with a slightly scratchy voice.

"Says the man who always preached his best friend to dump his concerns and to finally give in to his desires," she ragged me.

"The situation has changed," I replied seriously. "It has happened from time to time that vampires have killed humans while having sex with them, Simone. And they were civilized vampires. Mick is too unpredictable to be able to take that risk. He must first learn to control himself better." I shook my head about myself. I would have never thought that I would say something like that one day. But the vampire who slumbered in Mick even frightened me and if he transformed in the love-play and suddenly lost his control... I didn't even dare to think about that...

Simone seemed to understand what I wanted to say and she looked at me thoughtfully. "And up to now, he still hasn't shown any interest in that direction?" she asked.

"After that year..." I just said, and she nodded understandingly.

"A trauma can indeed have an inhibiting effect on sexuality," she knew, and I gave her a worried look. That was something I of course didn't wish for Mick.

"Or it works precisely into the opposite direction, so that the traumatized uses sex as a compensatory method to feel again and to feel alive," she added. Simone's knowledge didn't really make for calming my battered nerves. Neither the one nor the other thing was something I currently yearned for concerning Mick. He should just brace himself a little bit longer, as long as his vampire side had such lapses - that was all I wished for.

"It's only important that they don't get any silly ideas while I'm gone," I said, got up and put my phone into the inside pocket of my jacket.

"Beth is a clever woman," Simone said softly and stepped closer to me. "She will know how she has to deal with Mick. And it's only about two days."

Her words in fact calmed me a bit, although I had already told the same thing to me a couple of times. But to hear it out of the mouth of another person, whom I trusted and whose opinion was really important to me, had a much stronger effect.

I leaned forward slightly and gently touched her lips with mine. It cost me quite an effort to leave it at that innocent kiss. "I call you, when I can foresee that there's still a little time left before I must return," I said with a small smile.

She nodded, though her face remained serious. "Take care of yourself."

I had a hard time parting with her, but finally I succeeded and was able to leave the room.

* * *

Guillermo looked different. I had not seen him for a long time and somehow I had the feeling that he had clearly lost weight and looked ... older. Of course, vampires could not grow old, but he had lost this chubby-faced innocence that had been so typical for him. Instead, there was an unusual seriousness in his usually so lively sparkling eyes as I greeted him with a brief nod, and, if I wasn't mistaken, he went around with a rather big package of worries on his shoulders.

I knew a few days ago he had been forced to quit his work in the morgue and had joined Max and his unit. I had rejected his offer to go to Mexico and help us with Mick. If even the sight of Manolo conjured up dramatic memories of Marisa, that Mick had been able to push in the back of his mind for a long time so wonderfully, then Guillermo's sight would surely upset him even more. Their tacit consent to keep the topic 'Marisa' completely out of their contact with each other and just to forget that they had a dramatic history together with equally dramatic consequences, had indeed worked well for many years, but I doubted they would be able to go on with that in this new situation. I hoped that Guillermo had understood me and would not raise this subject again.

We did not need to talk to each other to agree that the lobby of the small but fine hotel wasn't the right place to talk about vampire affairs and so I did not even stop to greet my old friend but simply walked straight on towards the exit. Guillermo was attuned to that and immediately hurried along with me.

"Were you able to organize everything?" I asked without looking at him. My eyes scanned the few people who were in the lobby, but also the ones passing the hotel outside. Since I was in L.A. my senses were wounded up to a high pitch and attuned to take in every little thing in my proximity.

"Yes," Guillermo answered to me quickly. "Max and the others are waiting outside in the van. I went over everything once again. If everything runs smoothly we have a pretty good time frame to nail the guy on the spot - if not it can become quite tight..."

I nodded understandingly, opened the heavy glass door of the hotel and went outside. For a brief moment I paused, closed my eyes and let my senses explore the surroundings in seconds. I'd lived in LA for so long that I almost perceived this city as a living organism whose pulse and breathing I knew so well that the smallest changes were immediately catching my eye. And I knew the _Legion_, their smell, their sounds - I felt if they were close by.

When I opened my eyes again, Guillermo's sorrowful glance was resting on my face. "Is everything all right?" he asked timidly. I nodded barley visible and began to move again, headed for the now silver-colored van across the street.

As soon as I opened the back door, I felt that something was not quite right. The others greeted me friendly - everyone in his own special way - but the mood weighing on the men was so dark that I had the feeling the night had suddenly dawned on us and was just about to swallow all of us. This impression was reinforced when Guillermo closed the door behind him and the interior of the car darkened visibly.

"What's wrong?" I immediately turned to Max, who was just about to close his bulletproof vest.

I saw his cheek muscles twitching before he looked at me and I knew that the following news would certainly not be good.

"Our team isn't complete any longer – that's what's wrong," he replied in a rather harsh tone.

My eyes flew over the faces of the others. There usually had been another person who had always been with them. "Phil?" I asked, feeling uneasy.

That the name of his comrade had instantly crossed my mind seemed to soothe Max. "Yesterday evening we had to vacate our quarters involuntarily," he explained to me, and my stomach made an unpleasant somersault. "There were a good many and we had more luck than judgment that we had to concede so few losses."

"Altogether, they got four vampires," said Guillermo as he had already anticipated my next question and sat down beside me as the van drove off. "One of the team and three ... how shall I say ... civilians."

"Are already so many on the run?" I probed in amazement. I knew that Max and his friends had set themselves together with the cleaners to help the threatened vampires to escape and to find a shelter. But the run had ceased after it had become known that the_ Legion_ was now fighting against itself.

"Someone has spread the rumor that the Legion is planning a major attack on the vampire society," said Guillermo, lowering his voice. "And now everyone is in panic - especially here in L.A., because…" He looked at me contrite. "Let's face it: because you're no longer there. Many feel left in the lurch..."

I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes irritated. Sometimes I felt like I had a bunch of whining babies around me who were all clutching at my arms and legs, screaming, and rendered me completely immobile that way... Didn't I even dream of that lately?

"I'm not the only elder vampire in LA," I growled, pushing the unspoken accusations far away from me. "What about Henry?"

Max gave a short, angry laugh. "He has cleared out somewhere long since and calls just every few weeks to ask for the state of affairs."

I wasn't really surprised. Henry had always been a consummate coward, who had indeed a big mouth when it came to planning and organizing things, but in an emergency drew in his horns very quickly and took a powder.

"And Cedric?" I tried it again.

This time there was no reaction, at least not a verbal one. Instead most pairs of eyes looked awkwardly down

"Oh, no," it escaped my lips with a resigned moan,"_he_ was one of three civilians?" The air around me got really quite thin now. One problem after another...

"I know that there are a lot of vampires who overdo it with their panic," Guillermo began to speak anew. "But the Legion is doing quite a few things to fuel our fears properly..."

"For example?" Actually, I didn't want to know that at all...

"Now they're observing all the places we've gotten our canned blood from," the Mexican said and I closed my eyes in resignation. "A few of us didn't notice that right in time and..."

I raised my hand in a braking gesture, shaking my head. "Thanks, I don't need any details. That means we can currently only get our blood fresh from the vein?" That was bad...  
"That's not quite right," Guillermo said with a small smile. "I have started a little appeal for donations and have to say that the vampire community has yet more human friends than previously assumed..." He winked at me while I was staring at him with my mouth open. I wasn't used to having someone from the vampire community around me who really participated and hit on such a brilliant idea.

"Guillermo..." I uttered still totally flabbergasted, "did I ever tell you what an enrichment you are for the vampire community?"

The Mexican's grin got a fair way wider and now also a bit of pride was shown in his face. "The blood bank isn't that huge yet," he had to diminish his effort a little bit yet again. "And it also cannot help the fact that people are still afraid..."

"What Guillermo actually wants to say," Max barged in again stony-faced, "is that we urgently need you here to prevent chaos and hysteria to be let loose. That's only weakening us and leads to such incidents as yesterday."

"You mean there's a traitor among our people?" I concluded from his words and actually almost knew the answer.

Max leaned back a little and gave me a half smile. "One? Fear and despair can turn every other out there into a traitor."

That was true, sad, but true. I took a deep breath and then shook my head. "I cannot return. Not yet. And for sure I cannot impose peace and order all by myself and at the same time fight the Legion. For this we need a distinguished team. People who don't lose their heads under stress and stay on top of things, who can organize, guide, and possess a lot of courage..." I needed Mick, the old Mick.

"There are people like that," Max knew. "You need to just take the trouble to inspect and chose them. You just need to take a little bit of time for that…"

"That's something I really lack at the moment," I replied brusquely. "I must be back tomorrow night! And as you know I've to deal with a lot of things in this short period of time."

Max was silent for a moment, but I could clearly see how it was working in his brain. With his clear-cut face, his muscular body and the extreme short haircut he always looked more like a man of action than like a keen thinker. But I knew that he had a very sharp mind. Just because of that I was so fond of working with him.

"Is he still that bad?" he probed in a much too calm voice. "Your friend, I mean..."

"It's complicated," I replied evasively. My goodness, now I was starting to use Mick's favorite saying too...

Again, silence followed my words for a moment.

"It shouldn't take too long any more," it slipped from Max' lips in a warning tone and I frowned slightly annoyed. "There are some rumors in circulation that need to get rapidly eliminated," he went on utterly unimpressed. "Especially in relation to Mick St. John and the mysterious vampire meeting that will take place soon."

I raised an eyebrow and looked at Guillermo inquiringly.

"They wonder whether the meeting is just a ploy to appease the vampire world and to prevent someone is betraying you," the Mexican explained. "A few vampires believe that you are hiding cowardly, like Henry, and Mick is no longer alive and only serves you as an excuse. Others believe you prize Mick above the welfare of the whole vampire society, and would miserably betray all of them when it becomes tight for you and your friends..."

Now I had to grit my teeth not to explode with anger. I had always known that I couldn't rely on most of my vampire friends because they were miserable, selfish cowards, but to start such rumors, though I had been one of the few people who at least from time to time had carried a bit of responsibility for the community, was inconceivable.

"And Mick...." Guillermo shrugged his shoulders tortured. "I think he's currently a pretty red rag to the community... and the many stories that have formed around him in the short time...." He shook his head and tried to laugh. It sounded a little pathetic. "Most vampires, I think, are really afraid of him by now."

"But they are also curious," Max added with a quite strange look in his eyes. His gaze slid to Guillermo and I noticed a minimal twitch of his eyebrow, a silent demand...

"The thing is..." Guillermo started hesitantly and it began to dawn on me what was about to come. "Everything would be much easier if you were here with us in LA. But since you cannot leave Mick alone..."

"I cannot bring him here," I interrupted him immediately. What a crazy idea! "Not yet!"

"We have found some really safe quarters," Guillermo objected. "We can hide him really effectively."

"Not good enough," I replied, and rather kept it a secret that there were a few other major problems with Mick's behavior. "L.A. is crawling with people from the Legion. If there's a hint that he's here, they will do everything in their power to find him. The risk is too high!"

"I thought he's so strong," Max had to intervene to my annoyance once again.

"Not strong enough for fighting against dozens of mercenaries," I growled and glared at the two angrily. "I expose him under no circumstances to this danger!"

"Do you really think he's so important for these people?" Max asked doubtfully.

I took a deep breath and tried to get a grip on my again boiling up emotions. "For a certain part of them, most certainly, yes," I answered a whole lot quieter. "The other ones most probably only want to kill him."

I ran my hand over my face, wiping away the last remnants of tension with this quick movement. "Listen, Max, I understand that you're quite under pressure and that you need someone who fills a... let us say more 'accepted' position in the community, but I cannot install my position here. I still need time till the big meeting. But I can offer to fly regularly here and chose a group that takes the command and ensures that the Legion is not able to go on weakening us. And I'm always ready for mischief concerning the Legion. But on no account will I play the super-jumping-jack for anyone else here, okay?" I smiled and though Max knew very well that this was more a mockup than anything else he nodded his approval.

"That's at least something," he muttered.

I wanted to say something, but at this moment we seemed to have reached our goal, because the car stopped with a jerk. Max stood up immediately and also one of the other two men in the van rose and switched on the monitors and other appliances one after another, with which the car was equipped, while Max operated a couple of other buttons. I heard a mechanical clicking from the roof of the van and then a soft humming noise and I knew that now the antennas were coming up. Only seconds later the first images appeared on the screens.

"The Legion has put three teams of three men on that guy," Max said, while I was still trying to collect myself to bethink on my actual plan. It was really amazing how quickly Max could switch over. Actually I had always considered myself to be _the_ master of the fast changes of subjects.

"One team on the way in a black BMW," he pointed to the picture of a camera from the road. He zoomed in closer to the dark car the camera was angled at. The men, who sat ahead in the car, didn't give the impression that they were very tense. They drank coffee, talked and laughed. "The car follows him as soon as he leaves his office. A similar car was also after the girl."

I was confused for a moment, until it crossed my mind that he meant Beth.

"That here is the team in the café across from the building," he zoomed in with a different camera, which had to be in the café up to a table where a seemingly love-struck couple whispered sweet nothings.

"But these are only two persons," I interjected.

"Yes, the third person works as a waitress in the café and therefore has an eye on the building opposite to the café the whole day long."

A clever move, I really had to admit that. But the _Legion_ was known that it was quite well organized.  
"The third team is in the same house but in an apartment at the height of Talbot's office." Max pointed to the next screen, showing three other men in front of a large window, equipped with all appliances needed for observation: High-tech binoculars, a communications intercept station, cameras and a monitor showing an interior view of Talbot's office.

"How did you install all the cameras around them without getting noticed?" I asked startled.

Max' lips curled up into a grin and he looked over to his comrade - Kurt was his name if I wasn't mistaken. He was the man for the technology if Logan wasn't around.

"We didn't," he grinned at me. "The cameras were already all there - but Logan has figured out the access data and sent it to us so that we're able now to discreetly tap into their cameras."  
In some ways this freak was really a genius, that I had to admit again and again, and a tremendous help even if he was not personally present.

"That means the _Legion_ is observing its own men?" I wondered aloud.

"It looks like that," Max said. "And it's actually pretty clever. That way they always know what's going on in their teams and get alarmed immediately if something's wrong."

"And even Logan had problems cracking the security codes," Kurt threw in. "They're indeed quite smart."

"But we are smarter," I smiled and leaned a little bit forward to the monitor. "Are you also able to catch the camera in Talbot's room?"

"What kind of question is this?!" Kurt rose up, typed in a few commands and on another monitor appeared the clear picture of Benjamin Talbot, who was sitting at his desk packed full of papers and files, sifting carefully through a document with a drawn pencil.

I noticed from the corner of my eye that Max looked at his watch and searched his gaze.  
"He must have just returned from lunch," he explained to me. "At this time he usually works off some of his files and leaves the office at about four to pursue his work outside the office."

"Team three then moves to its location opposite to his apartment," Kurt added.

"So, it's a twenty-four-seven observation," I said thoughtfully. Talbot really had to be for the _Legion _of a pretty high value. And I would find out why...

"Exactly," Max said. "And they watch very well over each other and radio each other every ten minutes."

"It will be difficult to get past them," I made my reservations.

Max shrugged and exchanged glances with Mark, who had been the only one sitting the whole time quiet and almost grumbly on his seat. But now he jumped on his feet in exhilaration. "Are we going?"

He was really more a man of action, but unfortunately also had only half the sense of everyone else here in the car.

"Any moment." Max raised his hand in a calming gesture and turned back to me. "We have a pretty good plan and are very well prepared. The only question is: Do you want to go in to speak with Talbot, or do you want us to get him out for you?"

"What's less conspicuous?" I asked.

"It's all the same," Mark threw in impatiently and tightened up the strap of his vest. "We need to knock off team three anyway. So the _Legion _will know that we were there and took Talbot to task."

"That means we only have ten minutes for the operation?" My eyebrows rose in astonishment.

"No, much more," Max replied. "Connor has been sitting since yesterday night in the apartment above them and wiretaps them. He is informed about their topics of conversation and has a very similar voice to the leader of this team. It will take a while until they realize that someone else has taken his place - if they notice it at all."

His eyes looked at me quizzically. "So... are you going into the building or are we getting him out?"

I didn't need to think long. There was only one way to carry on an extensive conversation with that man. "We get him out. But I'm coming with you."


	35. Just a misunderstanding

_*__Sorry, I'm a bit late today, but here's the new chapter. Thank you again for your reviews and SG6169 for the beta reading! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter. See you at Sunday again. Best wishes, Jenna!* _

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**J****ust a misunderstanding**

Mick looked at her with that blazing gaze that seemed to burn through her clothes and almost perceptibly got through to her skin to then slowly slide over her heated body. Beth's heart was racing like mad and the shivers flooding her body didn't want to fade away anymore. She breathed heavily and haltingly and her skin tingled with the sexual tension that had built up between them and pierced deeply into her pores - too close was his body, too close his face. He had sneaked up on her on all fours like a feline predator on the hunt and was now above her, and let his warmth affect her without allowing a real physical contact with her. Oh, how she longed to reach for him, to rip his and her clothes off, to pull him down to her, to abandon herself to their passion on the spot. But she felt petrified, could not move, could only let her eyes roam over this beautiful bare man's body and in doing so envision how it would feel beneath her hands, how the hard muscles would move beneath her caressing fingers as he was giving into her entreaty...

His face came closer. He bent down to her and his lips touched gently, like the wings of a butterfly, her forehead, her nose, the corners of her mouth. A delighted sigh escaped her throat as his lips pressed against hers, caressing them, challenging them. She wrapped her arms around his neck and opened her mouth willingly, allowing his tongue to quickly invade and find hers, to start this thrilling game that made her body burn inside.

Equally, willingly, she opened her thighs as he sank down on her, for there was no better feeling than to be pushed into the pillows by his heavy body, wrapped in his warmth, while his deep kisses were taking away her breath. Her hands slid over his shoulders, her trembling fingers felt out each raising and lowering of the solid musculature beneath his seductively soft skin, savoring feverishly this wonderful feeling.

Beth took a deep breath as Mick's lips released her mouth and instead attended with the same intensity to her neck. She closed her eyes and instinctively turned her head to one side, without knowing exactly why she was doing that. She felt his smooth tongue caress the delicate flesh above her carotid artery, massaging it, preparing it for what was to come. It was almost a familiar feeling when his sharp fangs pierced her numbed skin and sunk into her vein. Only a few seconds later this tingling started which spread rapidly through her body and drove a wave of arousal and pleasure through her body, which seemed to be tossed back and forth and appeared to increase steadily through this stimulating suction on her neck. The pleasure-enhancing effects of the substances that Mick's vampire organism was giving off into her blood were incredible. Her senses brightened, got incredibly sensitive, while the hormones inside her went haywire.

Beth not only breathed quickly, she gasped and moaned, although she usually wasn't really such a loud person, but she got carried away. Mick moved on top of her, she could feel the contractions of his muscles through the thin fabric of her shirt almost as intense as if she was naked and again a sensual gasp slipped from her throat as his pelvis pushed forward and the hard evidence of his own arousal pressed into her heated lap. This small movement in combination with the intoxicating vampire bite was enough to cross the line of the endurable. She groaned loudly as the well-known strong contraction of the muscles of her abdomen assaulted her, and couldn't do anything other than addict her entirely to this wonderful feeling. The climax was not as intense as in their first night of love – how could it – but it surprised her for she hadn't expected it so soon. She was not accustomed to crack so quickly without really taking action in a sexual way. That was completely new.

Also this time the continuing suction on her carotid artery made it so the waves of the climax didn't fade away that quickly and she was able to enjoy that feeling longer than usually. But she wasn't as benumbed as she had been the last time and for that reason she quickly noticed that Mick behaved completely different. He didn't cease from her neck - quite the contrary, he still sucked firmer, greedier than before and caused her head to swim. Beth ripped open her eyes confused, tried to clear her head again.

"Mick?"  
No reaction.

"Mick!" she got out now even louder and the rhythm of her heart sped up again - this time out of fear. She raised her hands, as slowly a numb feeling was spreading, and tried to grab his head, to bring him back to his senses. But she didn't get far, because his hands grabbed her wrists, without letting go of her neck, and pressed her hands into the pillow beside her head. Now the suction on her neck didn't feel good any longer, it hurt and scared her terribly, because she felt this dangerous faintness creeping up in her, which came along with the increasing blood loss. Mick had lost control, became totally addicted to his bloodlust.

"Mick!" she uttered once again powerlessly. The panic in her voice was still clearly discernable. "Stop... please... stop it!" But all she got was a disapproving growl. She wanted to scream, call someone to her aid, but she was tongue-tied. Was too weak ... too weak ... She would die. She knew it now… die…

Beth shot up from her pillow with a stifled cry. Her eyes flew through the room in panic while she painfully gasped for air. It took a while before she realized that she was still alive, that everything had been just a dream, had been a terrible nightmare. Her room was brightly lit from the sunlight that flooded through the opened window, and there was no sign of Mick. She ran her hand over her neck and noted relieved that there really was no new bite wound. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried get a grip on her pulse and her breathing again. Mick had not crept into her room and also had not bit her. He had done nothing to her… would certainly never do something like that to her... Wouldn't he?

Beth tried to collect herself, to boil down her feelings again and organize her thoughts. It had indeed been only a dream – one that had felt very real, she had to admit - but her subconscious mind wanted to tell her something with that. Namely that she had to be careful with the things she wished for, that it could become very dangerous to her to do the things she was thirsting for, for a little while now.

Without doubt it was understandable that one side of her being was almost consumed with its longing for physically closeness to Mick. It was more than a year ago since they had slept together. She had waited so long for it to happen and then it had been just once that it had been granted – just once! Of course, that one time had been additionally _that_ good, _that_ breathtakingly wonderful that her animal instinct got immensely fueled and stirred up by the memories currently penetrating up inside her with increasing frequency. But she wasn't allowed to forget beyond these understandable feelings that Mick's body and also his soul had gone through a lot of changes in the past year and was still going through them. He had to get to know himself anew, had to learn to understand his body and his needs and how to deal with them. If she beguiled him now into something that he most certainly couldn't control properly - she herself had had difficulties thinking clearly in an intimate contact with him - then she thoughtlessly diced with death. That was exactly what Josef had tried to bring home to her and her dream had fortunately shown her quite plainly once again how right he had been.

Beth tried to breath calmly and deeply, but still felt a slight tremor running through her body. She ran both her hands over her certainly pretty pale face. The dream had been so terribly real, what had somehow been so exciting in the beginning, but then ... Most times her dreams didn't feel like that... most times...

She opened wide her eyes in horror and froze at the thought that was now clearly piercing her consciousness. What if this had been again one of their common dreams, if this strange connection between them had come to life and had made sure that they had shared the dream? How inconvenient! How embarrassing! How... how cruel! No matter whose dream it had been if Mick had experienced it the way she had, he was now for sure terribly upset.

Beth almost flew out of her bed, slipped in a rush into her jeans, bra and a comfortable shirt, hurried toward the door and ripped it open. As always when she was getting up in the morning, the hall was empty and abandoned. She had no idea how late it was, but judging from the brightness that had not even spared the usually so dark corridor it was already later in the morning. The light came mainly through the opened doors of each room and Beth noted that Peterson, whose room was directly across from her own, was long gone since. She hurried down the hall with a pounding heart and already registered from the distance, that also Mick's door was open. Nevertheless, she threw a quick glance into the room when she had finally reached it only to find that she had been right with her assumption. But real relief didn't want to arrive to her yet. He also could have left the room only a few minutes ago agitated and transformed in the halfway...

Her eyes roamed to the chair in Mick's room. He had thrown his pajamas on it that actually could only mean that he had changed, and this fact still calmed her down considerably. When Mick was in a panic or transformed, he would certainly not take the time to change quickly. So the dream probably had only been hers and Mick was somewhere in the house and did something with Peterson.

She focused on the sounds in her proximity and indeed perceived something from the distance that sounded like the voice of a human or a vampire. She was slightly confused, because it didn't sound as if it was coming from the relatively nearby living room. But she still went on, walked toward the living room. To her surprise it was devoid of people. She frowned. That was strange. Where was Mick, if not here?

Beth listened intensely, and again heard the voice now even more clearly, namely from the opposite wing of the farmhouse. She knew that the rooms there were actually unoccupied and wondered who had retired there and especially for what reason he had done it. It was definitely not Mick's voice.

For a moment she was torn between her need to go on searching for Mick and her occupational desire to find out who of the others had met there for a secret conversation. Maybe Mick was also with this other person in the room and at the moment just listened to him. That would explain why she couldn't hear him. So she simply _had_ to go there necessarily to make sure that he was really well. Her decision was made.

Beth moved as quietly as she could. Of course she knew that the male voice - it was really only one voice to hear – belonged to one of the other vampires and that he would probably notice her because of his hypersensitive senses before she could pick up something interesting in his conversation, but it was worth an attempt. She simply tiptoed on, approached the only opened door in that part of the hallway step by step and stopped when she was so close that she could understand what the speaker said but still could not be seen by the person in the room.

"I can't do that," the man uttered constrained and she tried to associate the voice with the persons in her memory. If she was not mistaken, it was Dr. Kendlroe.

"My hands are tied at the moment ... I..." He paused, and Beth yet thought he would have smelled her and would rush out of the room in a rage at any moment but only one second later he continued: "It realized that ... Of course..."

'Ah, he's on the phone,' she noted relieved and tried to let out her held breath as quietly as possible. Actually Josef had taken the cell phones from all the other attendants here to make sure that the _Legion_ could not locate them there. That Kendlroe had hidden another one from him was more than weird, especially since she was sure that he was not talking to Josef.

"I can't get to him undisturbed," Kendlroe explained to his interlocutor, and Beth knew immediately that he was talking about Mick, and an unpleasant feeling spread in her stomach.

"Someone is constantly at his side, either Peterson or this girl..."

Girl? That indeed sounded as if she were a little silly teenager who was hardly taken seriously.  
"Yes, maybe it is, but..." Kendlroe heaved a sigh of resignation. "The last time something went wrong when I woke him up again. Perhaps the dose of adrenaline was too high. In any case, he totally went wild and I couldn't calm him anymore much less take a blood sample..."

Beth's eyebrows rose in horror. What exactly did that mean? Was the doctor doing some other experiments with Mick behind their backs?

"You don't understand," he brought out excitedly. "You haven't experienced it! When he turns, he is untamable! … Yes, of course, there is a drug that takes hold, but the mad professor doesn't want to use it anymore! They all agree that Mick has to learn to get himself under control without any tools..."

Who in the hell was the physician exchanging information with, about Mick's condition so confidently? To whom did he need to justify himself that much? Beth couldn't do anything about her quickening pulse because a thought struck her, which was quite terrible in nature. What if Kendlroe was a traitor and in contact with the_ Legion_? What if he gave a report to them at regular intervals and spied on them. The only question was then, why he hadn't betrayed their location to them long ago, why the _Legion_ hadn't attacked them by now and reclaimed Peterson and Mick.

"Not yet at the moment and to tell the truth I'm not sure if he really can do it one day," she heard the doctor go on with his report. "I am surrounded here by nothing but terrible optimists... Oh, ... yes, of course. I didn't want..." Silence.

It was really a pity that she couldn't hear the other person, couldn't tell what he asked, what he wanted exactly. For although she knew that with her behavior she put herself in considerable danger, she was also well aware that it was very important for all of them to find out what the vampire-doctor was doing there behind the backs of them all.

"Yes, but..." All of a sudden Kendlroe sounded quite humbly, almost timidly. "I understand ... yes, of course... I'll do this. But I ... I don't know if I can succeed. Josef and the doctor became suspicious and Mick didn't trust me right from the start... And how shall I do that?" Pause. "Yes, I think he really loves her deeply..."

Beth held her breath. Why was he now speaking about Mick's and her relationship? That was creepy...

"I think so. He made quite a fuss when she showed up again, because he was concerned that his vampire side would harm her..." Again it seemed as if Kendlroe listened into the phone, because for a while Beth heard nothing more than that too loud, much too fast beating of her own heart.

"I can try," was the doctor's frightening reply. "It could really work..." Kendlroe stopped in the middle of his sentence and Beth froze. The vague feeling that something had changed, that he had somehow noticed her presence confirmed with two softly murmured words: "Wait a moment…"

Beth didn't hesitate. She just flung around and ran off along the corridor towards the cellar. If the doctor indeed discovered her, the other vampires down there were the only persons who could protect her from him as long as Mick didn't appear somewhere.

"Beth?"  
She winced violently and turned her head more out of a reflex to him. The surprise and shock was written large in Kendlroe's face, but nevertheless he immediately began to move and chase her. With her fear in her neck Beth was able to up her speed once more, and she almost slid past the door that she actually had wanted to reach. Her fingers brought the handle down, even as she was struggling with her balance, and she tore the door open. She was able to get onto the landing, but then two cold hands grabbed and pulled her back with such a jolt that she was flying not only back out of the open door, but also were immediately thrown against the opposite wall, and finally fell down. She wanted to scream, but Kendlroe was yet again above her, wrapped one arm around her waist, yanking her, and concurrently pressed a hand tightly onto her mouth.

Beth flailed, squirmed in his arms, pulled at the hand that damped her screams, but she had no chance against the strength of a vampire.

"Calm down! Shush!" he hissed angrily into her ear while he moved backwards into the dark hallway.

Beth bit as hard as she could, and the vampire was so surprised by the sudden pain that he indeed let go of her. She threw herself forward with all her might and called for help as loudly as possible - at least she tried to because only a short sound got out of her throat for in the same second something hard hit her head with full force and the numbing pain robbed her of the control over her vocal cords. She was thrown forward and went to the ground once more. She could still break her fall halfway with her arms, but then slumped down completely, because all her strength vanished from her body within seconds. A loud whistle and hum rang through her head and blackness surrounded her for a moment. Like in a dark mist she became aware that Kendlroe leaned over her and slid his arms under her limp body. Only a heartbeat later, she was floating in the air. He carried her back into the room he had been in before, and put her there onto one of the unused beds.

What ever he had hit her with, the blow hadn't been overly strong, so that her mind slowly cleared again and immediately brought back the panic that had become the driving force of her resistance. Beth backed away from the weird man who now sat on the edge of the bed, and backed up against the wall. Her head was spinning and a sharp pain spread from the back part of her head all over her skull. She wanted to scream but her throat just brought out a rattle.

"Please, don't do that!" the vampire demanded in a tone wavering between extreme rage and terrible fear. "Otherwise I have to really stun you, although I actually only want to talk with you!"

Beth believed him not a word - although he really behaved very unusual for someone who wanted to kill her because of her knowledge. If he really had this in mind, he would have done it long since.

"I will not do anything to you, Beth," he assured her with emphasis. "And about your head… I'm really sorry. But if you called out loudly for help, Mick would probably misunderstand me just like you did, and you can certainly imagine what he then would do to me."

"You... you don't want to kill me?" she could only utter in a whisper.

"Do I look like I'm tired of life?" was the shocked counter question. "Also, I am a doctor with body and soul. I have sworn the Hippocratic oath and believe in it."

Beth wanted to believe him so much. The thought that she had been taken in by a fallacy, that it all was only a silly misunderstanding and she had overreacted terribly, was so seductively comforting... And he still didn't look as if he wanted to lunge at her at the moment. He was not even furious anymore.

"But ... but then what does this all mean?" she asked, already with a little more secure voice and pushed gently along the wall into a slightly more upright position, despite the severe headache that instantly started. "With whom did you phone?"

"With a good friend," Kendlroe said, visibly anxious to smile at her openly.

Beth did not believe a word. It had not sounded like friendship, but more like a boss-subordinate-relationship.

"He's also a doctor and..." Kendlroe uttered a remorseful sigh. "... I've swapped ideas on this case with him for quite a while now because I simply think much of him and his knowledge."

Umm. Maybe there was a grain of truth in that statement, but Beth did not dare to press further on. Alone with this angry vampire she simply did not feel safe enough for that. She had repeatedly witnessed the ease with which Mick was able to kill a man and didn't want the vampire to get angry again.

All the more confused she was when he turned away his face from her almost scared and looked toward the door. She winced barely imperceptible as another figure appeared in the doorway: Tall, slightly overweight, curly hair. Almost an entire mountain fell from her heart when her still dizzy glance revealed to her that it was Logan, who at the sight before him offered a puzzled frowned.

"All right?" he asked, looking inquiringly especially at her.

"Yeah, yeah, why not?" Kendlroe replied for her with a friendly smile.

"I thought I heard something," Logan said and one could tell he didn't trust the idyllic world the doctor tried to lead him to believe in.

"We had just a little misunderstanding here," Beth added now, hoping that Logan understood her penetrating gaze the way it was intended: as an invitation to attend their little talk.

"What was it about?" he inquired at once, and indeed walked into the room. Beth gave him a grateful smile, while Kendlroe slowly began to sweat. "About a call, wasn't it?"

A blessing, if one was equipped with a hearing like that of a vampire. Now, that Logan was there and could protect her, she could maybe presume to be a little bit bolder. Of course she had to make sure she didn't force the doctor into a corner too much.

"About a call with a doctor friend," she added explaining.

"You've told someone from outside something about Mick?" Logan probed in disbelief. "Does he also know then, where we are?"

"Of course not!" Kendlroe rose up. "It's much too dangerous. It's just..." He took a deep breath. "In some things concerning Mick I'm not the same opinion as Peterson is. And I simply cannot understand why Josef lays Mick's fate entirely in the hands of the man who actually has done all those terrible things to him!"

Logan shrugged his shoulders undecided. "He will have his reasons."

However, Beth had a much clearer idea of the whole thing. "Well, the most important reason will be that Peterson, precisely because he did this all to Mick, knows at best what's going on in him and how one had to react to his attacks and problems..."

"I don't doubt that at all," Kendlroe immediately cut in, "but because of that we don't need to leave_ all_ to him! He would have to be much more controlled. We would need more blood tests with Mick to document his progress and everything else that goes on in his body, and to be able to intervene in an emergency if something goes wrong. Only then can we also prevent the man from manipulating Mick behind our backs and in fact continuing his weird research! We just cannot give him such free reign, without covering our backs in some way!"

Beth shook her head reluctantly. "He wouldn't do that. He really regrets what he has done, he..."

"He belonged to the _Legion_, Beth, don't forget that," Kendlroe interrupted her again somewhat brusquely.

"He... he wasn't one of them," she contradicted him a little insecure. "He was kidnapped by these people!"

"Says who?" It was not really a question, more an indication that even Peterson could very well be a liar, trying only to save his skin. But Beth did not believe it, could not believe that a man could convey emotions with such intensity as he did, without really feeling them.

"Sometimes it's enough to change only a very small detail of a story, and yet a completely new image is created for a person who had been previously assessed completely different," said Kendlroe quietly and with that effectively managed that she started faltering.

Perhaps they really were a little too open when it came to Peterson dealing with Mick. After all, the two were even now already gone off somewhere together, and nobody knew what the professor was doing with their friend at this time. Perhaps Kendlroe was not so wrong when he asked to control the professor's work a bit more and maybe to get a second or third opinion from time to time. On the other hand, Beth was also not so sure if August really told her the truth or maybe also denied her one or the other spicy detail of _his_ story. But even a less sympathetic person as he was deserved a chance - even if he sometimes tended to frighten poor, innocent women to death...

"And what, exactly, has all of this to do with this phone call," Logan brought the conversation back to the starting point and Beth was really grateful to him for that. Sometimes she let herself get distracted too easily.

Kendlroe was immediately floundering. "That... that... I... I sent my friend blood samples from time to time to document Mick's progress and to get a better idea of his condition and whenever the analysis was back, and the opportunity was favorable, I contacted him and talked to him about it. Only today I was caught for the first time here..."

Beth eyebrows skeptically moved toward each other. "It sounded a little different earlier," she expressed her doubts as calmly as she could.

He looked surprised. "Really? Sometimes you can also misunderstand things."

He wanted examples? He would have some. "You said something about an overdose of adrenaline, which you have given to Mick..."

"Yes, that's right," the doctor admitted surprisingly honest. "I wanted to take a blood sample just before the transformation, and injected him with adrenaline. But I wanted to tranquilize him again right away. Only it did not work quite so well."

"Then it was your fault?" Logan exclaimed in disbelief and mild annoyance showed in his boyish face. "_You_ made him freak out?"

"It was not intentional and I certainly didn't want to endanger anyone. It was a stupid idea and it will never happen again," Kendlroe promised with a soothing gesture. "But I couldn't think of anything better. Peterson was suddenly the specialist for Mick and they barely let me work with him anymore." He sighed heavily. "I'm a doctor - a pretty good one actually. I cannot stand sitting around idly! I think - no, I know, that I could support Mick's development very well, especially in regard to his vampire side, if you would just let me do it."

"And you would of course only act in his best interest," Beth brought out clearly in an ironic tone.

"As far as I can, yes, but also in the sense of the vampire community," he corrected. "But in contrast to Peterson, I would never exceed certain limits. I have and will never torture vampires in the interest of the greater welfare of the community and kill them. For the simple reason that I'm a vampire myself."

In this point he was right - it was really a too simple reason. Even being human had never stopped humans from torturing other humans and murdering them. But she did not want to continue to harp on it. There were a few other important questions to consider.

"You have also talked about me and my relationship with Mick," she reminded the vampire.  
"Yes," he admitted with a small sigh. "Gabriel has made the suggestion to leverage your relationship."

"How?" she asked sharply.

August's uneasiness was now so great that he had to avoid her gaze. At least he still had a decent dose of a sense of shame.

"He said I should talk to Mick that he should accept any help - also mine – to head off the fight with the vampire inside him, so that you're optimally protected."

"You want to insinuate yourself into his confidence through his fear for me?" It burst out of her upset; her body punished her for the outburst, with a further sharp pain in the back of her head. She grimaced and closed her eyes for a moment. When she lifted her lids again, outright two pairs of eyes looked at her with concern. Logan had now also approached the bed and bent down to her a little bit.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, while unseen by him August's eyes begged her imploringly not to betray him. A heartbeat long she really thought about it, but then decided to spare the doctor for the time being.

"Yeah, yeah," she said quickly, calming Logan with a wave of her hand. "I've just quite a headache today."

Although August's previous behavior was still stirring her up and she had the feeling that he concealed something from her, she was now almost convinced that he didn't belong to the Legion, and hence posed no immediate threat to her. Many of the things he had said were just too inconclusive to serve only as a simple excuse. Probably he was really a just a bit too overactive doctor who could not bear to play second fiddle regarding Mick. And also his argument against too much confidence in Peterson had been - even if she didn't like to admit it - pretty good.

"There's for sure something in our little drugstore here that helps against headaches," Logan said confidently and cast a side-glance at Kendlroe. "With all these quacks in the house..."

A little smile escaped Beth's lips and she had to put it off with great effort as she turned back to August. "You'd better speak calmly with Mick and explain everything to him that you have just done with me," she said seriously. "And the same thing you should do with Josef. I would bet that they both have no problem with running more blood tests, August." She struggled a bit with being on first name terms with the doctor but that way it sounded more convincing that she forgave him his previous behavior and she moved in Josef's absence on a safer side.

Kendlroe hesitated for a moment but then nodded understandingly and rose from the bed. "I suppose you're right," he said, and offered her his hand. "But now let us first see whether we can do something for your headache."

Beth stared thoughtfully at his outstretched hand in front of her. She knew that he hadn't reached out his hand only to help her to get up but also as an offer to make peace with him, hoping that she would not betray him to the others and forget the little incident between them. Of course she was not that naive to believe that all things were smoothed over with that, but because at this very moment she saw no more need to continue to talk about this topic - at least not as long as Josef was gone - she took his hand. The relief and gratitude that Kendlroe felt was written only too clearly in his face and he drew her as gently as he could onto her feet. She staggered a little but Logan was quickly at her side to support her and also Kendlroe grabbed one of her arms. His proximity was after the incident in the hallway not that pleasant for her, so she escaped his grasp.

"Thanks, it's okay," she murmured and also freed herself from Logan, who looked a bit dejected. She quickly won back the rhythm of walking, even though the pain in the back of her head now pounded into her forehead with every beat of her heart and caused a queasy feeling in her stomach.

"Does anyone of you actually know where Mick is?" she asked without turning around when she slightly staggered down the hall towards the living room, closely followed by the two vampires.

"He wanted to check the new wireless ECG together with Seth and Peterson," came the immediate reply from Logan.

Beth turned around to him in surprise. "It's ready?"

"Hey, this house is full of geniuses," Logan grinned at her and pushed past her through the entrance of the living room. Beth followed him into the kitchen area, smirking half-heartedly, while Kendlroe went to one of the cabinets in the living room, opened a drawer, and busily rummaged around in it.

Beth watched him secretly over Logan's shoulder, who, while he was drawing on the blood in the refrigerator, explained to her strictly why he and Seth were so unique and their acts in the background actually needed a lot more attention and credit. Even if the doctor had tried to settle the things between them as well as possible, Beth didn't really want to trust him – he had shocked her too much and something about him was still very strange. She wouldn't feel really comfortable beneath the same roof with him as long as Josef was not with her again, or at least Mick.

Fate seemed to be gracious today, because only a split second later she heard footsteps and voices on the veranda and then a sweaty and visibly irritated Mick entered the house, followed by a concerned Peterson and a cheerfully beaming Seth.

"... abide by certain agreements," she heard the last bit of Peterson's complaint and Mick rolled his eyes for the professor who walked only a few feet behind him and so couldn't see him. Beth raised her eyebrows questioningly when their eyes met and Mick gave her a wry smile and a short shake of his head making it clear to her that he was inwardly totally calm.

"I'm fine, okay?" he addressed the professor over his shoulder and headed for the kitchen area. "The quarter of an hour more didn't harm me."

"But it's hot and sunny outside," the professor protested. "And you saw what happened yesterday because of that! In my eyes a _test_ run is something very different!"

Beth's eyes slid over Mick's body as he pushed past her with a further small smile and she quickly realized why Peterson was bothered so much. Mick's T-shirt was so wet that it stuck to his body like a second skin and also from his face and neck the sweat was already dripping off, while his chest was still rising and falling in a fairly rapid pace. Mick had probably somewhat exaggerated his physical training to get rid of excess energy. But he didn't seem to think so. He made a contented and relaxed impression he hadn't made for a long time.

"I have certainly worked off more energy than I've taken in, Frank," he explained calmly, without turning to the old man. Instead, he took a large glass from the cupboard and filled it with tap water.

The professor followed him still very upset into the kitchen area and jostled Logan, who had yet backed away from Mick. The vampire shot an indignant glance at him to then leave the much to narrow area with an angry shake of his head and an inviting nod into Seth's direction. Beth knew he would now go back into the basement.

"To run around like a madman is not the right way to get back into shape," the Professor admonished his patient. "You have no idea how wild the ECG went. I thought we needed to collect you somewhere in the desert..."

Peterson really looked slightly the worse for wear. His face was ashy and he was sweating as if he had at least run a part of the trail with Mick.

"Then the device is perhaps not quite right," Mick replied with a shrug and instantly pitched into his glass of water.

Seth's cheerful smile abruptly vanished from his face. "Really!" he intervened with an admonishingly raised finger. "The ECG works perfectly well!"

"It's just," Peterson tried to filter down to Mick more calmly, "that even I don't know exactly how your body will respond on certain things, such as extreme stress. We've never gotten as far as we are now and for me this is all new territory as well. I only want you to slow down a bit more. You should be a bit more careful..."

Mick had completely emptied his glass and poured it full again. "You told me to listen to what my body tells me, and to try to satisfy the needs of both sides as well as possible," he replied off-handedly. "And I'm doing this now. I felt the need to run, to test the limits of my strength ... and I... I feel good - really good." He also looked at Beth, as if he would have to convince her too, but she rather took a back seat. She hadn't realized yet what had happened out there and was just glad that Mick was back and she didn't need to worry about him anymore.

The professor heaved a sigh of resignation and stopped in front of him with a worried look. "I don't want you to switch off your mind completely and blindly trust your instincts. They can also lead you completely astray. After all, your body is still in a state of... how shall I say ... self-discovery..."

"Frank," Mick put a hand on the old man's shoulder in a calming gesture, "I just ran."

Peterson opened his mouth to say something, but Mick didn't let him speak.

"And the next time I'll take it more easily and abide by the agreements, okay?"

One could tell that the professor didn't really believe in Mick's promise but he finally nodded to him for, as well as Beth, he was aware that currently there was no use in discussing this issue further on.

"Will you give me the device?" he turned to Mick instead, "then Seth and I can set down and evaluate the data."

"Yeah, sure." Mick quickly put his glass aside and before Beth registered what he was about to do he had already peeled the shirt from his body and pulled it over his head. The command of her mind to turn around fizzled out even before it had really penetrated her brain. Instead, her eyes literally sucked in the sight that was offered to her. It was one thing to look at a critically ill person lying half-naked in a bed, but an entirely different one to watch a very athletically built man whose body had clearly regained its strength undress. Mick had always been blessed with a natural light tan, which meant that even as vampire he had never looked really pale, and which now, coupled with the moisture of his skin and the golden light of the sun falling through a window into the Kitchen, gave his masculine body an almost bronze luster. Once more she had to notice that his weight loss didn't damage the attractiveness of his body as much as she had suspected earlier. The sight of him still had the same attraction on her as before, still awoke the same indecent thoughts in her, the same desires.

'Think of your dream, Turner,' her reason gave a shout, but it as well couldn't prevent that she was envious in some ways, as Peterson and Mick together eased off the ECG electrodes from his skin. It urged her to go to help them quickly, just as Seth did now, and she was almost about to give in to her need when a soft cough behind her, reminded her that she was not alone.

She turned around and looked directly into Kendlroes eyes, which looked at her again almost pleadingly. Her mind was still working well enough to understand what concerns burdened him and forced her to a little smile when she took the box of headache tablets he reached out to her.

"Thanks," she said softly and nodded to him, indicating that she certainly wouldn't breathe a word to Mick about the incident between them. Kendlroe was right - Mick would freak out if he heard it. Already as a 'normal' vampire he had had a problem if someone had threatened her or hurt her at all. That was now in his new state certainly not better.

The doctor had visible difficulties to turn away from her again. He also didn't seem to trust the peace between them, but he had to accept the situation as it was if he didn't want to catch Mick's or the other's attention with his behavior. Beth had a strange feeling in her stomach as the doctor disappeared toward the basement stairs, but had no time to worry about it because Mick again drew her attention. She noticed from the corner of her eye that he approached her - still too naked - and, as she turned to him, he gave her a gentle smile again.

"Let's have breakfast together," he said with excitement in his eyes that tickled out a slight laugh from her throat. Apparently he hadn't forgotten yet that his taste buds were reawakened.

"I would love to," she said far too excited and her eyes roamed illegally over his bare, slightly hairy chest. She only needed to quickly reach out her hand...

'Beth! Think of your dream!' Yes, exactly, her at first so wonderfully erotic dream...

"I'll just take a quick shower," he smiled and for the second time that day pushed past her much too close to make his way to the bathroom. Her fingers jerked slightly and the words "Wait, I'm coming with you!" were already on her lips. But this time her reason was able to wake up the cruel end of her dream in her mind and gained the narrow victory over the control of her body. How could a half-naked man get her out of step that much? In the near future she simply had to leave the room when something like this happened again. She turned around and winced, startled, as the professor's face got oversized in her field of view. She had completely forgotten him. She took a small step back and got a puzzled gaze.

"Are you all right?" she heard him ask with mild concern.

She nodded, approving of his question, and raised the box of tablets. "Just a little headache," she explained shortly. The professor was certainly the last person with whom she would talk about these kinds of problems. What she actually needed was a good girl friend or at least another woman for emotional care. Only unfortunately there was not really one here and she was sure Josef would hardly bring Simone along...

"As for the breakfast...," the professor said slowly and she knew that he was going to slip completely into the role of the conscientious physician. "I've done a little planning concerning his nutrition for the next few days…" He whipped out a long list and reached it out to her. "… which he should adhere to. But he didn't really want to look at it earlier. He is so..." Peterson was looking for the right word.

"Stubborn?" she helped him with a grin.

The professor gave a little laugh. "Yes, exactly. So if you could... maybe appeal to him a little bit?" He looked at her pleadingly, and Beth strove to maintain her smile, while she simultaneously asked herself how she could cope with that all on her own: keeping an eye on Kendlroe, controlling Peterson, motivating Mick and heading him into the right direction while keeping her own emotions under control.

"Of course," she replied nevertheless, and a beam glided over the old man's face. So 'making the professor happy' she could yet tally... Oh, that didn't belong to her jobs.

"And it is essential that he drinks his nutrient drink!" Peterson added. "It's in the refrigerator, because he didn't want it earlier."

He waited for her nod, and she rewarded him with another smile. "Then I'll go do my work," he said now much happier than before and was as well on the way to the basement.

Beth looked around briefly. Suddenly she was alone, and an unaccustomed silence descended on the room like a thick canopy of cotton wool, which shielded her from all noises of the environment. A silence that allows you to intensively deal with your own thoughts - and that was what she really wanted to avoid for her thoughts were all charged with more or less serious concerns. However, recently she was able to do something against the silence! She straightened her shoulders and walked back into the hallway towards her room. She wouldn't get discouraged so easily through the concerns these early hours had brought along - even if she already knew that there was a turbulent time in store for her.


	36. Difficulties

_*Hi! I'm very, very sorry for the late update, but I had and have big problems with a virus on my PC and now am posting this from my best friend's PC with the help of a CD. I hope I'll get rid of this devilish thing soon and am able to post the next chapter right in time. Thanks a lot to Francis for the translation and to SG6169 for the beta reading. And to my few review-writers: Feel hugged! You're the ones who make me go on with this big story and its translations. I really need this kind of support. So, hope to hear from you soon and also hope to post the new chapter at Thursday again. Best wishes, Jenna* _

* * *

**D****ifficulties **

"Team three is done. You're next."

There were situations that could immensely accelerate even the pulse of a vampire. I had learned that during my long life. This was one of those situations. Max, Mark and I had reached the flat roof of the building in which Talbot had his office, undetected by the surveillance cameras thanks to Kurt's technical skills. Now we prepared ourselves in haste for the impending action, which had been explained to me by Max on the way there. Three steps were still to be done: enter Talbot's office, get out with Talbot and quickly disappear with him. And all this without being seen, which of course was probably the biggest problem.

Connor's remark through the headsets should probably be the start signal for our operation, but even though Max had just told me in short words how they wanted to proceed, I was still not really clear about how they wanted to get Talbot out of his office without drawing attention. Not only was it in broad daylight, but also the building was quite busy at this time, so every moment some uninvolved jinx, who just happened to stumble into the office of the lawyer or here onto this roof, could jeopardize everything.

Max seemed to pick up on the worried look on my face, for he turned to me immediately, while he put on a variety of safety belts, which would allow his rapid descent down to Talbot's window.

"The layout of the office is actually quite favorable for us," he said quickly. "The building opposite this is almost empty and the height is sufficient. Very few people are inclined to monitor the airspace above them. And yet if we should be discovered by a person, this here..." - he turned his back to me where in large white letters the abbreviation LAPD was emblazed – "should deter them for a while from calling the police."

"What about the other offices inside the building?" I asked focused on what he told me. "There is only one more next to Talbot, which is used by another shyster," Max answered my question willingly, "and a hall, where the secretary sits. The only difficulty is that all the rooms can be observed from every angle through the large windows. So that means, if we want to get Talbot out, we must knock out these two people in some way."

"But you have already prepared something," I suspected immediately as a broad grin appeared on Max's face confirming that I was right. He was not a man haphazardly stumbling into action. All his actions so far had always been very thoroughly planned and prepared. "We were here two nights ago and installed an apparatus that will dispense narcotic gas into the air shafts," he said and pulled out a tiny remote control. "They can be knocked out in minutes to travel the land of dreams. And this here..." he pointed to another button on the remote, "…locks the doors." He raised a hand and grabbed his headset. "Kurt?"

"I'm at your service," came the cheerful voice of our 'technician' who had stayed back in the car and followed our campaign from the outside.

"How's the situation in the hallways?"

"All clear. We have chosen a good day."

Max looked at me again, and went through some final security checks.

Meanwhile, Mark, had built up in record time sort of a motorized rope winch in miniature on the edge of the roof. "I'll get him out and bring him up here," said Max once again. "I personally think it's better if we don't wake him until we're back in the car. But if something happens, I have the necessary utensils to do it earlier. It is important that you keep your eyes and ears open while I'm busy down there."

I nodded understandingly and was feeling now as if I was sitting on hot coals. I didn't like being here in the open, standing in the sun and not really able to do anything. And the sunglasses and bulletproof vest that had been given to me didn't really help. They for sure protected me, but not from my fears and concerns regarding this action.

The laughter that rang out in the next moment through the headset spooked me a little. It was Connor, who from the building across had a good view of everything that Talbot was doing. "Folks, you won't believe it! The guy has just opened his window! It seems as if he's asking you to come in, Max!"

"Well then," said Max who lightly pressed the buttons on the remote control with an enthusiasm, which I certainly did not share, "Let's not make him wait any longer!" He hooked the towing rope into the carabiner of his climbing harness and looked at me yet again with this outrageously optimistic grin that I could only half-heartedly share. This was so not my kind of thing. Mick certainly would have had some fun, but what had I told him on another occasion? I was a lover, not a fighter. I had often refused, not without reason, to help Mick in his daring adventures

I was a little dizzy when Max jumped in one smooth motion onto the waist-high wall that bordered the flat roof, and then dived head first into the street canyon. The rope winch gave a faint whirring sound and I took a big step forward towards the deep gorge.

Max himself was a master of body control even for a vampire. He was able to accomplish movements with his well-trained and vigorous body that resembled the tricks of acrobats. And the ease and grace of his movements always reminded me of a dance you dearly wanted to watch in fascination no matter if he was in a breathtaking fight or performed other reckless actions.  
Max didn't just let himself down on the rope; he used the wall as a path and ran along it in a horizontal position above the road, moving with ease down as if there was no gravity, while Mark secured him with another nylon rope in addition to the automated rope winch. After only a few seconds our friend disappeared into a window. I sent a prayer to heaven that the arrangements for this action had all worked and there would be no trouble getting the lawyer out of there as soon as possible, but I could not prevent my intestines from cramping painfully with the tension.

My gaze wandered over to another building. In one of the windows I could see something flashing in the sunlight. This had to be the site of team three where Connor had now taken residence. He seemed to pursue our mission with great interest with one of the telescopes. I looked down again, but discovered that Max had not yet reappeared. Hopefully there were no problems with Talbot, or anyone else. This was something we could not...

"Fuck!" That was Kurt. "Folks, we have a problem!"

Oh, how I hated this sentence. My eyes flew to the other side of the road, for a vague precognition told me that something would happen there at any moment.

"Connor, there's a squad of four men coming to the building," Kurt said with an excited voice. "Get out there! Now!"

Now I could see them too. I did not know exactly where they came from all at once, but like Kurt, I was sure they were members of the _Legion_. Three men, dressed inconspicuously, but their coats were padded too thickly for this season. I knew what they hid beneath them...

"What's up with our building?" I immediately radioed Kurt and my heart had now taken almost the same speed as that of a humans' in panic.

"Still nothing to see! But hurry! We need to get away as quickly as possible!"

He did not need to tell me. We were certainly not alone for long. I bent over the wall with concern. "Max!"

"Turn on the rope winch," roared his powerful voice at once through my headphones, to my relief. "I'll take the safety rope!"

A figure was balanced on the windowsill below me and Mark quickly activated a switch on the machine so that only a few seconds later the limp body of Talbot was dangling in the air in Max's harness. At least the anesthetic had worked. Now Max also appeared at the window, grabbed the other rope and began to climb in a torrid pace towards us. Free climbing of the vampire kind...

"Oh, oh!" The sound out of Kurt's throat sent a very unpleasant kind of shiver down my spine and I knew immediately what had happened.

"Two teams, one on the stairs, the other in the elevator. Make yourselves scarce there!!"

I reacted immediately and leaned over the wall, gave Max, who was already near the top, a hand and pulled him onto the roof, while at the same time, Mark pulled Talbot over the ledge, took him out of the harness and then heaved the tall guy with vampire ease over his shoulder.

"We'll take the stairs," Max said into the microphone and immediately rushed to the stairs, followed by Mark and myself. "How many?"

"Eight men, quite heavily armed," was Kurt's quick response.

"Which floor?"

"Still at second. But on the way to the third."

The building had a total of thirteen floors, so we had a little time to make a quick plan, as we hurried down the stairs.

"We must not allow them to encircle us," I whispered to Max, who nodded instantly.  
"Can you do anything with the elevator, Kurt?" He addressed immediately our man outside.

"I can try... Wait..."

The following silence in my headset made sure that I heard the noise in the lower floors of the staircase during my journey down, and soon I took in the rumblings of many feet on hard ground, the tense gasp of human lungs and the crackling of foreign radios. And I could smell something, something that made the savage beating of my heart even stronger: a delicate shade of silver - one of the few effective weapons against vampires.

I wasn't alone. Max raised his hand and we slowed down right on the landing. I could see how the thoughts tumbled in his head. He knew that the weapons of the _Legion_ always constituted a great danger for us, especially on the distance, and finally he came to the only possibility that existed in this case - attack was often the best defense and the more surprising the better.

He quickly reached into one of the many pockets of his equipment and took out a small case, which he pressed into my hand. "If there's no other way - just into the carotid artery. He'll be alert within seconds." He nodded briefly and Mark let Talbot unceremoniously slip from his shoulders, but gave the impression as if his new job didn't faze him at all. For his grin was just too happy. A narrow mind was sometimes really a blessing.

"Okay," Kurt's voice was heard again in the little button in my ear, "I think you now have a good ten minutes when it comes to the squad in the elevator. The others are climbing up the sixth floor..."

"Can you be at the back door within those ten minutes?" Max asked back in vampire frequency. "Yes. Be careful, okay?"

Max looked at Talbot, and then just looked at me again. "How many floors can you make with him, without breaking your legs?"

I thought fast. It was a long time since the last time I had jumped such a depth with this added weight...

"Four, a maximum of five," I had to admit grudgingly, and didn't feel well even with this assessment. Max confirmed with a nod that he had thought about the same number. He glanced down into the stairwell. The rumbling of the storm troops now rung out all too clearly just a few floors below us, as well as a high ultrasonic buzzing sound that was supposed to hamper our perception and prevent us from eavesdropping on their communications by radio. It worked well and unfortunately strained my nerves even further. I simply grabbed the limp body of Talbot and loaded him onto my shoulders. Then I nodded encouragingly to Max.

"You have to be fast - we can not hold them off forever," he said, swinging along with Mark over the railing and dropped. This time I passed on to watching the two and ran the same moment. I knew that they would jump into the midst of the approaching storm troop only a few meters below me.

Talbot's weight was not a great burden, and instead of fear, a strong mixture of hatred, anger and readiness to fight formed in my chest that I usually took care to keep hidden. But I knew that at that moment this was very useful, because these emotions pumped tons of adrenaline into my blood and brought a determination and clarity along, which had saved my life many times in many such situations. My feet were almost flying over the steps and my senses were wounded up to a high pitch despite the buzzing in my ears that gave me goose bumps.

A loud cry of a human not far away from me, told me that my friends achieved their goal and their surprise had been successful and I increased my pace once again. Muffled gunshots rang out, the breaking of bones, more cries of pain, the dull sound of fists that met another body...

The first thing I saw was a dark-clad man, who was thrown backwards onto the stairs in front of me, but he instantly bobbed up a bit and pointed his gun at Mark, who just threw another attacker around and threw him against a third.

I reacted in seconds, easily jumped over several steps and out of this movement kicked with one foot the cowardly attacker in the head with full force. There was a loud cracking sound as the man was thrown forward. Then he stayed lying down lifeless.

The landing did not offer much room for the melee in which Max and Mark had involved the men of the _Legion_ and even much less room to get past unhindered. But Max had decided to make room for me with all his might. He just threw himself with full force against two of his attackers and pushed them into a third man. I reacted as quickly as I could, and rushed forward, resisting only with difficulty the need to participate in the fight. My concern for my friends was great, but had to be pushed back, if we wanted to carry out the whole operation with success. I took the next steps by leaping from landing to landing. A loud cry from above let me hesitate in shock and the next moment one of the men of the _Legion_ fell past me. Only seconds later a sickening dull thud could be heard, which was caused by his crash on the stone floor far below me. I took a deep breath and hurried on, hoping that Mark and Max had the squad as much under control as it had seemed.

A crackling in my ear reminded me that we had other allies outside the building.  
"More troops are coming through the back door!" That was very bad news. "Ten men strong. Looks like this strange elite unit that has visited us recently. I turn off the radio now, it's too dangerous."

I took two more landings and then remained there breathing heavily. Fourth floor. I closed my eyes and tried to suppress this unpleasant noise, which now seemed to come from two directions, and to find out if the 'Elite Squad' was far enough up the stairs to take the plunge.

Wheezing, the trample of feet, metallic clicks... They loaded their weapons, and moved much slower, more cautiously than their rash comrades, as they snuck up on me. I still had to wait. I took a step towards the banister and looked into the depth. It was still a considerable height, a height that worried me a bit. Of course, the bones of vampires heal fairly quickly, but they also need a bit of time - time in which I then could not move forward, time that we did not have.

For a moment I toyed with the idea of going down one more story, but then I decided against it with a heavy heart. If the new squad was still on the second floor when I reached the ground, they would be back down on me much too quickly and could drive their silver bullets into my back. The risk was simply too high. So I stayed in my position, just grabbed the unconscious man over my shoulder more tightly and waited with a furious pulse. It took only a few minutes, and then the outline of a first, dark-clad figure appeared from behind the pillar at the bottom of the stairs where I stood. I did not hesitate another second, propped myself up on the railing with one hand and swung myself into the bottomless void. I heard angry cries, the fast approaching of the other attackers, but these sounds faded in the loud noise of the air through which I raced at breakneck speed. The ground was fast approaching and I tensed every muscle in my body, while the first bullets whizzed past me and struck with a crash into the plaster of the stairwell.

The impact was hard and painful. It shook not only my legs, but also my whole body, pierced even the marrow of my strained bones. Although they gave in a bit, they didn't break, so I just prostrated slightly and had to struggle with my balance. But I stayed on my feet - at least until the moment when one of the projectiles that the _Legion _fired at me went through my upper arm. I narrowly suppressed a scream and staggered to the side, quickly grabbing Talbot with my other arm. There was not only the pain shooting through my arm like a blaze and spreading into my chest, but also a paralyzing feeling along my left arm that immediately hung down limply. I gritted my teeth and reeled as fast as I could toward the back door of the staircase. The loud rumbling above me told me that the men immediately took up pursuit. And they were fast.

I threw myself against the door, paying no attention to my piece of luggage, which bumped its head against the frame, and I stumbled into the open. My heart took a delighted leap at seeing this very moment our van stopping a few yards away with screeching tires, and I was trying to command my legs, through the leaden heaviness spreading quickly in my body, to run faster. But that was easier said than done. I felt like I was in one of those bad dreams that beset every man once, in which the legs are so heavy that you just move ahead in slow motion while the rest of the world and especially the pursuers moved totally free and relaxed. From the corner of my eye I perceived a movement behind me and tried to fling around, to ward the putative attacker, but he was too fast, grabbed my numb, aching arm and pulled me with tremendous speed into the car. My befogged mind needed a moment to process that my 'attacker' was the heavily laden Max, who now had his hands pulling us as quickly as possible into the car. Guillermo appeared in my field of view and took Talbot from me, while Max roughly pushed me further into the comfortable darkness of the open car. I had not enough strength to catch myself again, but crashed halfway into Guillermo, who just laid down the lawyer into one of the corners, but then worriedly held fast to my good arm, and in doing so prevented me from sliding sideways to the ground.

"Josef...?" His concerned voice echoed strangely in my ears. My body felt so strangely heavy and alien. As if from a distance, I became aware that Max hoisted the limp body of Mark into the van, quickly jumped in and then closed the doors behind us. The car shot off with such a jolt that I once again lost my balance and Guillermo lost his grip around my arm. I was painfully thrown against the doors, and stayed lying down, breathing hard and clenching my teeth, because the throbbing in my arm was so terribly painful. Meanwhile, my whole left side was paralyzed and burned like fire. Max' dark figure lowered himself down next to me on his knees, visibly struggling with his balance when the car made a sharp turn and had to brace himself with one hand on the inside of the car to take a fairly stable stance next to me.

"What's the matter with him?" I could hear Guillermo's concerned question, but Max didn't answer. Instead, he lifted my limp arm, looked at it for a moment and then grabbed the strange silvery thing that stood out from the underside of my arm. The pain was infernal and I screamed when the projectile was drawn out of my flesh, for me, way too slowly. Immediately warm blood was soaking both the sleeve of my shirt as well as the expensive jacket, it ran down my arm and dripped onto my pants. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe as shallow and as regularly as possible. My heartbeat had to calm down urgently, otherwise I would loose too much blood.

Max lifted my upper body up a bit and put me into a sitting position, leaning my back against one of the pleasantly cool doors. He held me still with one hand for another few seconds, because we once again took a fierce curve, then he released me and brought out a first aid box from under the seat.

"Guillermo, Mark still has one of these silver stakes in his thigh," he said to the Mexican without turning around. "Pull it out and press your hands on the wound, as hard as possible. He shouldn't lose so much blood."

I lifted my heavy eyelids and looked at Max questioningly. Of course, silver had a disastrous effect on us vampires, but that did not explain why such a silver stake was enough to put my whole body out of action and why my self-healing skills had not come back now that it had been removed.

"These things are pretty treacherous," Max said tensely, pulling an elastic snare out of the box. He lifted my arm and put it close to the armpit around my arm, and then he quickly tightened it. I gritted my teeth and let out a soft curse.

"When they come into contact with body heat, they bit by bit give off the silver into the bloodstream in a liquid form," my friend went on mercilessly and started to put a tight bandage on me. "They melt completely and can poison your body so much that you can never recover from it."

Someone in the _Legion_ had a lot of knowledge about the mechanisms taking place in a vampire, and knew full well that when we were in combat mode we could produce a fairly strong amount of body heat because of the higher energy consumption – a stronger heat than that of a human.

Despite my weakened condition and the pain that was caused by Max's first aid services, I was able to look at him in horror, but to my relief he shook his head with a straight face. "Don't worry, yours has not been in your body long enough and your organs will ensure that the silver is eventually flushed out of your body. But it will weaken you for a while, and prevent the wound from healing. You can count yourself lucky that the bullet missed the main artery. That way I can secure the artery for a while and tend to the wound."

"What... what about Mark?" I uttered through clenched teeth.

Max's expression darkened. Guillermo had followed his instructions and even though Kurt hastily tried to tend to the wounds of his comrade, Mark did not move, just lay motionless in front Talbot's limp form.

"He got two of these bullets. I was able to remove one of them immediately, but then another troop came from upstairs..." He shook his head. "It didn't look well from the beginning... The other silver bullet stuck him in his throat..."

That was not good news and the calmness Max spoke with told me that he had already given up on his friend. Even if the death of a friend did not leave the men cold, they didn't take time with their grief, simply focused on the important things that had to be done.

Max stood up and moved toward the other end of the car. He then shortly knocked on a darkened window, which opened only seconds later.

"What about pursuers?" was the question that was haunting me as well.

"We were pretty fast," came William's reassuring answer. "And I've drawn on trick 17 afterwards. They won't find us too quickly now."

Max nodded, while I myself planned to ask about this trick at some other time - at the moment I had no strength for it and was just happy that we had escaped the _Legion_ for now.

"Take us to our quarters," added Max before he came back to me to inspect the bandage once more, much to my chagrin. Sensitivity really was not exactly his forte...

"I would really like to know what went wrong," I heard Kurt say, while I tried not to let them know how much I suffered under Max's hard grip, trying to banish the dizziness in my head. "We had prepared everything so well," he continued, resigned. "We were so carefully secured. How had they gotten wind of it so quickly?"

Max and I looked at each other and we thought the same thing again: there was a traitor in our ranks, and indeed one who knew pretty much about our actions. That was a very uncomfortable feeling and it endangered all those who worked with us - whether human or vampire... A boiling hot sensation shot through my body and this time it had nothing to do with my injury.

"Max..." I grimaced with pain as I sat up a little straighter. At least the silver had ceased to radiate into my right side and I could prop myself up a bit. "Can you get my phone out of my pocket?" My friend rushed to comply with my request and gave it to me, but I didn't take it immediately. The car was still moving too restlessly to be able to remain seated without the support of my arm. "Push the redial," I told him through gritted teeth, because the pain in my arm got stronger again. Max did as he was told and held the phone to my ear immediately. It rang once, twice, and then a familiar female voice answered.

"Simone," I blurted out with a tense voice. "Are you still in the hotel?"

"Yes," she answered right back with a slight worry in her voice. She sensed immediately that something was wrong.

"Get out there! Immediately! Do you hear?"

"Are you okay?"

Why do women always have to be so extraordinary sensitive?

"Yes," I lied, even though I knew she would not believe me. "It's ... just at the moment everything is going haywire. I'll call you when we have the situation back under control. But you have to disappear from there and look for a safe shelter somewhere. Do you think you can manage that?"

"Yes," was the brief but reassuring answer. "Josef? Please take care!"

"You too." I gave Max a sign to hang up quickly, so that she couldn't ask anymore what was wrong with me. Almost at the same time the loud ringing of the small apparatus resounded again, and my heart took a leap for the umpteenth time that day. Please, not that as well...!

Max held out the display to me and I closed my eyes resignedly. This was precisely the number that I actually did not want to see, the number of the one cellphone that was located in a small farmhouse in Mexico. I took a deep breath and gave Max a mute sign to connect me, bracing myself inwardly for the next disaster. It was Logan's voice that pierced my ear, but it sounded remarkably carefree.

"Don't have a heart attack," he said relaxed, and did not have a clue how close he was with that presumption on my real state. "Mick and the rest of the gang's fine. But your Mexican friend, this Allessandor has contacted me and wants to talk to you. Is that okay?"

I had to collect myself at first to be able to say anything. The shock was still sitting too deep. 'Mick is doing well. Beth is still alive. Everything's all right,' I told myself.

"Josef?" There was a little bit of confusion in Logan's voice. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah, yeah," I croaked, and cleared my throat. "Put him on."

"Okey - dokey, Mr. Jones," he replied cheerfully, and I wrinkled my forehead in wonder. Mr. Jones? Something cracked in the line and then I heard an excited Alejandro whispering "Hóla?" into the phone.

I preferred to leave all the greetings phrases out. "What's wrong?

"Are you still in LA?" There was something in his voice that made me listen up.

"Yes, why?"

"Paul Ritchcroft has just called," Alejandro told me with excitement in his voice. "He's in considerable difficulties and needs someone to get him safely out of LA. The _Legion_ is probably close on his heels."

In that regard he was not alone. Apparently the _Legion_ had their 'active' day today...

"And when exactly should this happen?" I already had a sense of foreboding.

"Now," was the disconcerting reply. "He's at the _Plaza del Sol. _But only for the next ten minutes, then he changes his location and calls me again."

I looked inquiringly into Max's eyes. It was sometimes extremely handy that vampires had such good hearing and thus made all kinds of loudspeakers unnecessary. However, he too was anything but happy about our additional task. I saw his cheek muscles twitch and knew that he was looking hard for a way to solve the whole problem somewhat differently. But he as well was not able to come up with something.

"What happens if we don't get him?" Max asked in ultrasonic frequency, so Alejandro couldn't hear him.

"Then he's probably a dead man within the next few hours," I replied more calmly than I was. "Josef?" I heard the Mexican's loud worried voice in my sensitive ear.

"Un momento, por favor," I replied, my eyes remaining on Max's tense face.

"How important is he for us?" he asked me the question I had anticipated.

"As it seems... He's more important than any other man from the _Legion _to which we've ever had contact…"

Max looked at me for a moment. Then he nodded and handed me the phone, got up and approached the rear wall of the driver's cockpit.

"We'll get him," I communicated to Alejandro, even before I heard my friend telling our driver our new goal. "How will we recognize him?"

I heard a sigh of relief from Alejandro. "He is quite tall and skinny, in his fifties, and inconspicuous. He says he wears a black coat and carries a brown briefcase."

I let out an angry snort, as Alejandro wasn't able to give more details about the man. "Great description - really," I growled. "Has he perhaps relayed to you a slightly more precise location?"

"Yes. He said for those ten minutes he would be in the vicinity of the _Hard Rock Cafe_. I'm... I'm sorry, Josef. I don't have anything else. He's pretty scared..."

"Okay," I muttered as I tried to move the fingers of my left hand again. It worked a bit better, although the snare around my arm cut off the blood supply and caused a tingling in my fingertips. But the effect of the silver at least seemed to abate. "I'll call back when we have him, or if something goes wrong and we once again need your help."

I did not take the time for a word of farewell, but ended the call searching the exchange with Max anew, who was kneeling next to Mark at this moment and for a few seconds remained motionless in this position. Then he raised his gaze and the look in his eyes told me that we were no longer able to do anything for our comrade. Guillermo shook his head sadly, left his seat at the side of Mark and sat down on the bench with a resigned sigh.

"Un adiós es una bienvenida demorada, mi amigo," it slipped only in a whisper from his lips and we all probably thought the same: The _Legion_ had now become much more dangerous for us, more dangerous than we had previously assumed. It might be splintered deep inside, but every soldier was now fighting for his life, trying to take as many of us with him into his death as possible, namely by all available means. No creature was more dangerous than the one that stared death in the face. It hadn't much left to lose.

"How do you feel?" Max turned to me and again I could see a slight flare of concern in his eyes.

I managed to give him a small smile. "As if someone had tried to poison me with silver," I replied softly, and for a split second a hint of amusement flashed over my friend's serious face. He nodded understandingly, bent over the dead undead before him and pulled out another box from under the seats. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a cooler, which he immediately opened, and then reached in, taking out two packs of blood.

The blood-thirst came so suddenly at this sight over this tired body of mine that I unwillingly transformed immediately, my mouth opening in hungry anticipation.

"Actually, they're only meant for emergencies," Max argued and really hesitated a few seconds before he threw one of the bags to me.

In my eyes indignation was reflected. "Well, maybe we'll soon have one," I replied sarcastically and just bit into the package. How fast one could lose his manners in times of need.

"Why didn't you give Mark any of it?" Kurt complained from behind and Max turned around with an angry glare.

"Because it would have been wasted - he was already as good as dead when I brought him here," he growled. "He wouldn't even have been able to drink because of the paralysis. And Josef needs new strength." Then he looked at me again and I felt my pulse accelerate again under his challenging gaze. "We need to go pick somebody up."


	37. Sweet Sin

_*__Hi! My PC is healthy again (I love Kaspersky) and I'm now able to post the new chapter in time again! Thank you so much for your reviews! Great to hear that you like my action scenes for I think they're quite difficult to write – although I like to write them. And Lucretiareadsall, I'm open for every bit of constructive criticism. I even need this and I know that from time to time I'm a bit too detailed. But I try to keep this in check. I promise. For your questions: I can't really answer them without telling too much but I can tell that he will stay in this hybrid condition for quite a while. And now I wish you all much fun with the next chapter. See you at Sunday again and happy Easter! Jenna * _

_P.S. Thanks to Sg6169 again for the great beta reading!  
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**Sweet sin**

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_"It feels so good when you do what you shouldn't do."_

_Manfred Hinrich _

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Sometimes a simple thing, a tiny little thing, could actually become a time consuming task if you set your goals high enough. Beth was a master at creating real drama out of the simple decorations she put together for the breakfast table. Of course, everything had begun quite wonderfully. She had connected her portable CD-radio player and had found, right away, a station that played beautiful oldies and evergreens. She then set the table with plates, flatware, glasses, bread and cold cuts - Josef had catered really great things for his human friends - and had then quickly walked out the door to gather a few of the wild flowers that grew at different places around the house. And so the drama had begun. Flowers needed water and a vase in which they would not be lost. Only this house, of course, had no vases and nearly all the glasses and cups were too large for the beautiful but very delicate plants. Beth had then searched all the cupboards of the house and had almost come to the end of her odyssey when she found a small cognac glass in which her little bouquet would fit perfectly. Since the lilac flowers gave the table such a wonderful luster, Beth's demands on the perfect table setting were increasing rapidly and she spent the next few minutes busily looking around for more suitable dishes. When her cheerfulness threatened to evaporate, she gave up and decided to be content with what was on the table. Men really didn't have such a strong penchant for esthetics, and Mick would probably not even notice that the pattern on the plates didn't harmonize with the floral arrangement.

Beth had had to chuckle at herself. Usually she was not this nurturing housewifely type, and she hoped fervently that this tendency would die down once Mick was completely okay again - even if it did amused her to surprise him again and again.

She winced as she turned to the refrigerator to get something, and a tall, dark shape suddenly blocked her path.

"Good God!" she uttered angrily and clutched at her chest in fear that her heart would jump out of it. "Why do you damn vampires always have to sneak up on us humans?"

Logan knitted his eyebrows a little discontented. "I-didn't-sneak-up-on-you," he said, stressing each word as if she was a bit stupid. "I just wanted to take a break for a moment here in the kitchen."

Now it was Beth, who gave the young man before her, a startled glance. "Break? You've only been down there for twenty minutes..."

"Really?" He stared for a moment pensively into the air and then shrugged. "It seems like it's been hours." He turned away from her and opened the fridge to draw on the stored blood once more. "With all that bitching down there...," he muttered.

"Are Seth and Peterson arguing?" Beth probed as she walked to the coffee machine and switched it off. She had thought that the two of them had wanted to discuss the evaluation of the recordings on the ECG.

"You cannot argue with Seth at all," Logan said. He closed the refrigerator and reached for the door of the cupboard at the same time Beth did. Their fingers touched, and he recoiled as if he had received a shock. Beth gave a puzzled frown while Logan only gave an embarrassed smile. She looked at him searchingly for another moment, then opened the door, took out three cups and put one of them in front of the vampire.

"Who then?" trying to bring him back to their topic.

Logan looked at her blankly. He had, it seemed, completely forgotten what they had been talking about. "What?"

"Who's fighting down there so much that you had to leave?"

"Oh, that..." He shook his head angrily at himself, opened the bag of blood and poured the content into his cup. "Frank and August. Don't ask me what it's about though. They don't exactly speak my language, but one is criticizing the other and both are of the opinion that they know what's best and that the other one is completely wrong..."

"Concerning Mick's medical treatment?" Beth probed worried.

"Of course", Logan replied, almost annoyed, and took a long sip of his favorite drink.

Beth looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, but then took the coffee pot and began to fill her two cups. Her thoughts however still dwelled on what Logan had just told her. This dispute didn't appeal to her at all. She had advised August to talk with Josef and Mick about his worries and thoughts and to _not_ directly attack Peterson and chew him out. A power struggle among the doctors was, now that Josef wasn't here, the last thing they needed to deal with. She was sure that this would make Mick pretty nervous. Maybe it was better if she just went down and attempted to force a truce there...

When she raised her eyes again, she noticed that Logan's eyes had settled on her neck, while he almost greedily sucked in the blood from his cup. Beth opened her mouth in disbelief, while outrage and amusement took possession of her all at once.

"Logan!" Her voice pulling him roughly from his certainly beautiful daydream and the young vampire winced. "Do you imagine for an instant, that you are biting me?"

Logan shook his head far too hectic to pretend he hadn't, but he had been caught. His face turning a little red, and for a vampire this was indeed astounding.

"That... that I would never do that," he stammered, and threw an anxious glance over his shoulder. She knew exactly who he was looking for. "Really... I... I've only looked at your neck by accident. You really have a very nice neck..." he smiled tensely, then turned quickly away from her and began to put his empty cup into the sink.

Beth could only shake her head and smile. Even though it was probably stupid and dangerous, she simply could not really fear Logan. He was such a big boy...

Her eyes flew to the entrance of the living room when she saw a movement there. The sight of the now fully re-dressed, tall, dark-haired man, who was still rubbing his wet hair dry with a towel and heading for the kitchen, brought a delighted smile to her lips and made her heart beat a few extra beats. She shook her head inwardly. This simply had to stop. She wasn't a teenager anymore...

In contrast to her, Logan was less than enthusiastic to see Mick. Nervousness overcame him, which could not only be connected to his 'nice' fantasy about the only human woman in this house as he struggled to give him a friendly smile.

"Hey, Mick, what happened to all that bristly hair," he joked, and at that moment it dawned on Beth that Mick had shaved. It made him look younger and more rested than before, but above all, more familiar - despite the still very short hair.

"Someone might have told me that I looked like a Wookie," he replied with a half smile, rolling up his towel and putting it around his neck.

The mention of the character from his favorite film series brought a bright smile to Logan's face. "Hey, watch out, if I call you Chewie in the coming days then you'll know that you urgently need to shave again." He raised his eyebrows, grinning, to obtain approval for his brilliant idea.

Mick gave a short, not very real laugh, approached Logan and put a hand on his shoulder. "If you call me Chewie, I'll have to show you how to rush around the room at the speed of light without the need of additional warp drive."

Logan's smile began to crumble, but he tried to keep it upright, despite the discomfort in his eyes. "Oh ... okay," he replied and with a large step moved loosely out of Mick's reach. "I... I'm going back down now." He pointed with his thumb over his shoulder to the hallway and again looked at Beth with uncertainty. Why did the vampires in this house constantly think she was a tattletale?

"All right," she said, giving him a reassuring smile. "It would be really nice if you could help create a better mood down there."

Logan nodded and then hurried from the room. To be together with Mick was for him apparently worse than attending to the nasty dispute among the doctors - a mindset she really couldn't share.

"Since when is he that sensitive?" Mick asked amused.

Beth looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Speed of light?"

A slight laugh escaped him. "Oh, come on, it was just a joke. He knows that," he said.

"I'm not so sure," Beth murmured, but was glad that Mick didn't really pay attention to her last remark, because he suddenly stopped and listened attentively. She realized that he only now noticed the soft music playing in the background, and wondered how long ago it had been since he last heard those sounds.

A delighted gleam showed in his eyes and the corners of his mouth lifted into an enthusiastic smile as he slowly turned around. Beth knew that he was looking for the source of the music, but his interested gaze never got that far, for it was instantly drawn to the dinner table. His eyes widened in silent astonishment, roamed hungrily over all the tasty things that were presented to him there, and the next moment he had stretched out his hand for a piece of cheese.

"Stop!" Beth uttered just in time, Mick froze with a frown on his face. "There are some clear instructions from our Doc."

He dropped his shoulders and rolled his eyes briefly. "Let me guess. I first have to take my great nutrient drink."

She did not answer him, but simply opened the refrigerator and took out the well-filled glass. She almost winced when she realized that Mick was suddenly right in front of her. He moved surprisingly quiet for a human today.

"Has he shown you that list?" he asked with a small smile taking the drink from her hand.

She closed the refrigerator quickly, blocking his view, preventing him from seeing the surprise package, which still lay untouched on the shelf. "Yes, and _actually_ the whole thing sounds like a pretty reasonable plan," she said.

He nodded. "_Actually_. Where is this ... 'reasonable' plan?"

Beth's lips curled up into a knowing smile. "Safe."

Mick was really trying hard to look innocent, but couldn't prevent a smile. "Don't you trust me?"

"Oh, yes," she said seriously. "I trust you could lose this plan by accident."

"No way!" He looked at her playing outraged. "I can be a very trustworthy person."

"Yes, if you want to."

"And what makes you doubt my will at the moment?"

Her eyes wandered demonstratively to the still untouched contents in the glass, which he held in his hand. She looked up at him, with chin still lowered, and raised her eyebrows.

Mick let a little goose bump generating laugh again. "Okay. I'll drink it when can I see the list"

"Well, then..." She crossed her arms over her chest, waiting.

"You want to watch me drink it?" He seemed a bit confused.

"The sink is just too close," she answered, smiling and amused his blue eyes flashed, confirming her suspicions had been justified. Finally, he breathed in deeply and audibly and raised the glass to his lips. Then stopped again.

"Please no drum roll," he said dead serious, and with a raised index finger. "I need to concentrate!"

"I'll try to hold it," she replied with the same seriousness, though the laughter was close to her throat now. Mick was in a surprisingly good-mood. He gave her one more mischievous grin and then gulped down his drink as fast as he could, only to screw up his face dramatically.

Beth raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Was it so bad?" she asked and had great difficulty in keeping the amusement out of her voice.

"You have no idea," he sighed theatrically and put the glass in the sink. His gaze then caught site of the two well-filled cups, which were still on the counter.

"Coffee," he breathed ecstatically and immediately took one of them. He held his nose over the rising steam and closed his eyes appreciatively. "Is there anything in this world, what smells better?"

'Yes, you,' was in fact for a moment on the tip of her tongue and she slapped herself inwardly. She had been so wonderfully reasonable up to now - except for the playful flirting tone in their conversation - why did that have to start again now? She watched, smiling dreamily, as he sipped gently at the still fairly hot drink and with a contented breath again closed his eyes.

"You can now also set quietly at the table," she said, as he looked at her again. She took her own cup and went ahead of him to the table. Mick gave his coffee another amorous glance, and soon joined her.

"Well," she said as he sat down opposite her. She hoped he would not ask again to look at the list. It was so beautiful knowing, that the intoxicating scent of his coffee had made him to forget all about it. "Actually, you may as ordered by your doctor, eat only two slices of bread. And you should chew it slowly and carefully and stop immediately if your stomach begins to rebel."

Mick nodded understandingly, but drew his brows together thoughtfully. "Wait, let's go back to that, 'actually'. I like that word..."

"Really?" Her eyebrows rose quizzically. "Maybe it means that I see the whole thing much more strictly and should allow you even less..."

"Oooh, so now I need your permission to do something here?" Mick leaned back with an amused twinkle in his eyes and looked at her so thoroughly that it almost became uncomfortable. After all, in his absence she had not taken much time to make herself look pretty. She wore little makeup, and just a simple blouse and jeans.

"And what happens if I don't obey?" There was such a lurking undercurrent in his voice that didn't really please her - not only because she felt that the question hid a hint of revolt against the restriction, but also because he very clearly reacted to the flirting tone that had again accidentally escaped her. She could feel his intense gaze and the heat rose in her face.

'Calm down, Turner,' she told herself. 'You can get yourself out of this without letting him think further in that direction.'

"Then I'll just have to eat your surprise all alone," she replied with a casual shrug. The provocative expression on his face vanished as quickly as it came. He gave a slightly stunned reaction, until the memories of yesterday came back.

"The package..." he said with a half smile and she nodded.

"Exactly," she agreed with him, and laid a slice of bread on her plate and reached for the butter. "So, think about what your going to do."

Mick's eyes narrowed. "You know what this is called, don't you?"

"Blackmail?" she answered back and now could not hold back the grin any longer.

"You're such a devil." Mick shook his head, and also took a slice of bread. "Who can resist such pressure," he sighed and stretched out his hand for the butter, but stopped midway in the movement. "Is butter allowed?" he asked with a distinctly ironic tone.

"But of course..." she replied generously and handed him the small plate.

She tried to keep her eye on her own bread and not watch him any further, because even the most ordinary activities could become unpleasant if you were under constant observation. Even if there were restrictions, Mick should feel good when they did something together.

"Now all kidding aside," he tried again to talk to her, "did Frank really set up a diet plan for me for next week?"

She looked up again with a compassionate face. "Yes, but ... his only concern is that, here too, you'll overdo it." The words were out before she had thought about them.

"What do you mean with 'here too'?" Mick pressed her while he cut a few slices of cheese to put on his bread. "He can hardly argue that I have overworked myself physically in the last week. As far as _I_ can remember, yesterday was my first time outside, and before that I hadn't moved that much."

Beth took a deep breath and leaned back a bit in her chair. The subject was slowly becoming very uncomfortable, and she felt pretty sure there was an undercurrent of anger behind the remarks concerning the doctors' instructions, which were now coming to light. Beth, however, had always been honest with Mick and she wouldn't change that just to spare his nerves. "Mick, you..." She stopped, but his requesting gaze motivated her to continue. "You almost died. And that's just ... nine, ten days ago..."

"And?" he asked seemingly nonchalant, but she had seen his cheek muscles twitch when he turned his eyes briefly from hers to put more cheese on his bread.

"Only 24 hours after we found you more dead than alive, you stood up and walked through this house," she reminded him further.

"You can hardly call that 'walking'," said Mick to his cheese sandwich and bit into it almost aggressively.

"The point I am trying to make is that no matter what state your body is in you're always trying to push it farther than you can afford. That's the only reason Frank has written this list. It's the only reason why he stipulates how much you can eat. He just wants you to take it slower and be more cautious."

Now, the anger was clearly written in Mick's face. He swallowed his mouthful and then shook his head. "You don't know what you want, do you?" he asked. "Yesterday you told me that you needed my help to be able to help me, that I should start to live again, and now, when I do, it's wrong again..."

"It's not it," she replied immediately. "It's just the way you go about it..."

"… that's wrong," he finished her sentence. "Gotcha." He nodded with a false smile, which lead to a grim laugh.

Beth drew her brows together angrily. Josef had warned her of Mick's whims, just before he had brought her back to Mexico. He had not exaggerated when it came to Mick's rapid mood changes.

"You _want_ to misunderstand me, don't you?" she asked directly, and Mick did not even pretend to act as if he was surprised about her statement. He looked directly at her again and bit into his bread, to avoid answering her question. Since they had known each other, there not had been many disagreements, but when they did happen, she had suffered, regardless of whether the dispute had been harmless or serious. Even now she felt anything but comfortable. She did not want to argue with him - not really.

"What's the problem, Mick?" she asked mildly.

He drew his eyes away from her - a sign that he too had not wanted to continue the dispute any further. His chest heaved as he took a deep breath and he turned his gaze back to her face.

"I hate it, when someone tries to constrain me with rules, or patronize me, okay?" he said emphatically, but the expression in his eyes had lost some of its hardness. "I really hate it. I've always been that way."

Beth also took a deep breath. "Good. And I'm the last person who would want to force you into anything," she said, and stretched out her hand to his beside his plate. "Do you believe me?"

He did not flinch as her fingers caressed the back of his hand, telling him with this gesture that she really only wanted what was best for him. He gave a brief nod, and all of a sudden the anger and the tension had vanished from his face. His other hand slid gently over hers and held it, returning her conciliatory gesture.

"Then... then look at Frank's list as simply a small, modest request to take care of yourself a little bit," she said quietly, enjoying the slight tingling sensation that was caused by the gentle caress of his thumb. Mick's mouth lifted into a half smile. "I can try."

She returned his smile and reluctantly withdrew from his grasp, to finish eating her bread. For a while they were both engaged in their thoughts and the consumption of their food, happy that they had managed to avert a worse dispute in time. But it was clear in Beth's mind that it wouldn't remain that way forever. There were so many strong emotions in both of them, emotions they had buried to make a normal relationship possible. They could certainly not suppress them forever. Sooner or later they would break out with a vengeance in some form or another...

A low laugh from Mick's direction pulled Beth out of her thoughts. She looked at him quizzically. He had eaten his bread, and was now holding the cup of coffee, from which he had just sipped, and chuckled to himself. "Want to hear something funny? I think I'm full."

Beth opened her eyes wide in surprise. "Does that mean you have not eaten Frank's precisely calculated number of slices of bread?"

He laughed again. "Yes, exactly, I defy his guidelines by going on a hunger strike."

"Hmm," she mused, resting her chin on her hand thoughtfully. "I think something should be done about that."

"Do you know what I honestly believe?" Mick responded with a smile. "I think Frank has mixed something into this nutrient drink that provides a quick feeling of fullness. That way he can ensure that I'll follow his instructions."

That didn't sound all that absurd. Beth thought the professor was capable of it in any case. But it was okay by her. That way she could finally reveal her surprise to Mick without having a guilty conscience, that he might overload his stomach. She gave him a mysterious smile, grabbed his empty plate, got up and walked to the fridge, sensing his intense gaze at her back.

"Don't look," she said over her shoulder as she heard the chair slid across the floor, because now his curiosity made him get up. She quickly took the package from the refrigerator, opened it a little so she could place one of the treats on his plate. Just in time, since Mick was at this moment beside her, eagerly peering over her shoulder. But he didn't need to, because she turned around to him with a beaming smile, his newly filled plate in her hand.

"You still have room, don't you?" she grinned.

Mick reacted exactly the way she had expected: He stared wide-eyed at the round, sweet delicacy, which she so proudly presented, and was indeed speechless for a few seconds. "That..." he finally exclaimed devoutly. "Is that...?"

"A _Krispy Kreme_ donut," she beamed and again Mick lapsed into silent amazement, while his eyes clung with increasing greed to the sweetness. A few more seconds passed until he dared to reach out his hand, then hesitantly, casting a questioning glance at Beth. She quickly nodded allowing him to boldly bite into the soft sugar-coated donut. After only a few chews his eyes widened again and he stopped in disbelief, only to close his eyes and give a pleasant yummmm with relish.

Beth let out a delighted laugh, put her plate on the counter and without hesitation took one of the remaining donuts for herself. Mick obviously enjoyed every bite. Again and again, they joined their happy eyes, inhaled deeply and uttered pleasurable sounds.

"It's good, isn't it?" Beth asked with her mouth full and Mick rolled his eyes in deep bliss.

"Good is not the word," he replied. "This is..." He lacked the words, not only because he had to take just one more bite.

"Heavenly," she helped him, but he shook his head.

"Scrumptious," she tried one more time

"A taste bud-explosion," he finally managed to get out.

"An absolute sin," she added, nodding her head while noticing that he had pushed the last piece of this delicacy greedily into his mouth, licking each finger that had come into contact with the sweet frosting.

"How... how did you get them?" he asked after he had swallowed the last small crumb and could only longingly watch her eat. It seemed as if she had brought back his appetite one more time.

"The young man who flies Josef's helicopter brought it along for me," she said, and automatically turned around to proudly look at the opened package. Unfortunately, in doing so she also gave Mick a clear view of the other treasure contained in the package, which instantly drew Mick closer with great joy in his eyes.

"Are... are those brownies?" He stated in disbelief and Beth quickly planted herself in front of him so that he could not get to it so easily.

"Yes, but they are not for today," she said determined, after she had also swallowed her last bite. She gently pressed both hands against his chest, and pushed him back a little, because he was already craning his neck to get a better look. He brought his eyes back to her face.

"But fresh tastes the best," he said, unable to conceal the greed in his eyes.

"Have a little restraint," she admonished him with mild severity and Mick shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

"I can't help it," he said with a not so well-concealed grin. "This is the new me which is currently at the mercy of my physical needs..."

"Poor you," Beth replied not very convincing. "But you still don't get any brownies today. Actually, donuts weren't even on Frank's list."

"But they didn't hurt me," Mick objected quickly and moved again closer to her. Beth quickly turned around, grabbed the opened package and moved out of Mick's reach with one large step.

"Honestly: You don't get another piece today," she said now much stricter. "We'll pace these delicious things, and wait to see what your stomach says in hindsight to it." Actually, she did not want to return to this miserable topic again and risk another argument. But he gave her no choice.

"Honestly: I take my needs seriously," Mick said with a much too gentle smile and approached her anew. "Beth, I'm a grown man - I know what's good for me and what's not, even if you don't want to believe it. And this is just..." His eyes narrowed in concentration, he needed to find the right words, and his lips compressed with tension, "... far too tasty!"

Beth let out a small squeak of protest when he blocked her escape route with a big step and reached out for her. She threw herself around quickly, bringing the package to safety for the next moment.

"Come on, Beth, this is ridiculous," she heard him close behind her grinning and the next moment he tried to reach past her sidewise.

"Mick!" she exclaimed indignantly, and again she was able to save her package from him with a quick movement to one side. "That's mine!"

"Everyone must learn to share at some point," he laughed and now tried for it again from the other side. He seemed to enjoy the whole thing while she slowly felt very harassed. A tall, strong guy like him, had obviously no clue how it felt when you were smaller and weaker than others.

Beth backed away from him again and fortunately bumped her back against the refrigerator. Thinking quickly, she tore it open, threw the package into the nearly empty compartment and slammed the door shut, planting herself combatively in front of the refrigerator. "Enough already... honestly!" She knew she sounded more as if she was talking to a dog than to a man, but he gave her no choice. The bad thing was she was laughing the whole time and it made it hard for him to realize she was serious.

He took a deep breath and stepped closer to her so that only a few millimeters separated them, and without realizing it she held her breath for a moment. There it was again that edgy feel of the old chemistry between them, which made her pretty nervous. She swallowed hard, while her gaze was held by his bright blue eyes still twinkling with amusement, and in their depth a certain intimate glow seemed to stir.

"Okay, what do I need to do to get at a taste of these terribly delicious brownies," he asked with a velvety voice that sent goose bumps running instantly down her back.

"Forget it," she replied softly. But her eyes flickered for a second treacherously past his lips. When she looked up again the expression in his eyes had completely changed. Suddenly something was boiling inside him, which _that side of her that yearned for physical contact_ had dearly hoped to awaken, but her reason_ing_side had struggled against with a vengeance. But now it was there and made sure that his eyes more than obvious roamed to her lips and then remained for too long.

'Stop this!' her reason commanded, but just like in her dream she was no longer able to move. Her heart was racing as his head bent down to her and he gently lowered his lips to hers. She closed her eyes and enjoyed this gentle, caressing touch of his lips, while her stomach performed a few turbulent turns and showered her body in shivers in the most pleasant way. His lips were so soft and tempting ... but still softer, more seductive was the tip of his tongue, which just seconds later provocatively slid across her lower lip. She could not help but open her lips and invite him to cautiously search and make contact with her tongue. The yearning sound that escaped her throat was inevitable with the first gentle touch of their tongues. She raised her arms and placed them around his neck, responding passionately to the now deep and quite intimate kiss. Mick moaned excitedly into her mouth, wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed her tightly to his hard body, evolving into an urgent need for her physical closeness.

'Beth!' she screamed inwardly to herself. 'Listen! Stop_ now_! Think of your dream!'

Teeth boring painfully into her flesh, Mick holding her, draining her... that helped. Beth gave a weak sound of protest as she let her hands glide over his chest and pushed him away with gentle force, just enough to release her lips. But he did not completely let go; he seemingly just couldn't bear any real distance between them. That way it was damn hard for her to collect herself again, because she as well enjoyed the contact and the heat of his body so much. For a moment they simply stared at each other, confused, agitated and slightly embarrassed, because neither of them knew what had gotten into them so suddenly.

She was as surprised with Mick's behavior as much as he was, because he had always shown in the past a tendency to complicate everything, to suppress his own feelings almost to the point of self-flagellation. To let himself go in such a way, even though he knew very well that his vampire side was more uncontrollable than ever before, was really a new side of him and this side wasn't harmless. Not to mention the fact that these feelings had awakened in him much faster than anyone had expected, including herself.

"We... we shouldn't..." she tried to explain in a fairly timid and shaky voice, but could not go on because Mick raised his hand and gently stroked her cheek, his eyes again rested treacherously on her lips.

He managed to nod understandingly. "No, we shouldn't...," he brought out in a slightly hoarse voice and his face drew nearer to hers again. Beth raised her fingers to his mouth to prevent his lips from touching hers anew.

"We might not be able to... to stop in time," she added in a whisper, hating herself for the tremor in her voice.

"Yes," whispered Mick against her fingers and immediately sent another shower of tingles through her body. "That would be..." His brows drew together deeply. It seemed he was having as much difficulty thinking clearly as she was.

"... too soon," she finished his sentence, and the troubled look in his eyes corresponded with her own feelings completely. Her eyes wandered to his half-open mouth, and as if she was under a spell, she slid her finger slowly over his lower lip... So sensuous, so seductive ... She had - _had_ to taste him one last time...

It was the moment she drew away her finger, where their lips had touched again for only a second... it was this moment, that brought the voices over to them, shortly before the creak of the cellar door announced that someone was heading their way. They moved away quickly, scared, like two teenagers who had almost been caught by their parents while 'making out'. And exactly the same way Beth felt, when she quickly stepped up to the small kitchen table and acted as if she had been busy for a while there appearing to clearing it. Mick didn't rally as quickly as her; he stood undecided in front of the refrigerator. However, it was Peterson and Kendlroe who stormed into the living room only one second later, too busy with their quarrel to notice that something had happened between them.

"Okay, let's go then!" the professor told his hated rival in an unusually forceful voice. "Tell him! Well, come on!"

Kendlroe gave the old man a murderous look, but then reluctantly turned his face to Mick, who looked at the two men before him frowning, still struggling with his self-control. The rapid change of situations seemed to overwhelm him fairly and Beth was almost ashamed that she had previously shown so little willpower.

"We... we need a blood test," August finally brought out with visible discomfort.

"No, no," the professor rose up with a crimson face, "not _we_! _You_ think you need it! _Only_ you!"

"Frank!" Beth intervened and took a step toward the two men. "Calm down! What's the meaning of all this?"

"Frank has already taken a blood sample from me only three days ago," Mick replied, somewhat confused.

Kendlroe wanted to say something, but his colleague was faster. "This is what I said as well," he called triumphantly. "But this is not enough for _Dr_. Kendlroe!"

"Yes, because in his development it's simply necessary to supervise, by all available means, all the processes in his body," Kendlroe now countered. "And especially after these results!"

Frank looked as if he wanted to jump down the other doctor's throat immediately, but he said nothing, just breathed in deeply and heavily, his hands clenched into fists with suppressed rage. Beth had never seen the old man like this before.

"What... what do you mean?" Mick asked keen-eared and a deep unease spread in Beth's abdomen when she saw the worried expression in Kendlroe's eyes.

"While running you had at a certain point an extremely high pulse rate," the doctor began to explain.

"I've already told him that," Peterson growled.

"Yes, but you wanted to conceal from him that his pulse decreased strongly afterwards, beneath the normal values and in fact without him feeling physically worse!" August snapped at him.

"What ... what exactly does that mean?" Beth asked concerned.

The doctor took a deep breath. "His pulse, for a human, is much slower and his body temperature is 96.3."

"What?" Mick uttered fairly quiet. One could tell that he had begun to worry as well. "Does that mean I will..."

"It means nothing," Peterson stepped in between again. "The worst that can happen is that your vampire side is becoming stronger again..."

"And you're just now telling me this?" Mick snapped at him excitedly. "I was alone with Beth all this time!"

"And nothing happened! Because you're still a human, Mick! Your body is frequently subject to variations and these variations level off again by themselves! Usually you don't even realize it! And so it should be this time too!" He glared at Kendlroe furiously. "It's harmless!"

"So his condition could never topple into an imbalance in favor of his vampire side, could it?" Kendlroe said provokingly and his tone made it clear that he already knew the answer to his question. Peterson pressed his lips tightly together and stared at his counterpart full of hate. However, there was another person who was waiting impatiently for the answer to that question.

"Frank!" Mick grabbed the stunned professor by his shoulders and looked at him intently until the old man cracked yet again.

"I cannot exclude it," he had to admit grudgingly.

Mick visibly clenched his teeth. His gaze wandered to the ground, while he tried to sort out his thoughts and feelings. Then he raised his head, now looking a bit more composed. "Can you see by the blood count how the vampire in me stands at the moment?" he probed on and Beth noticed that a triumphant expression had crept into Kendlroe's eyes. He had achieved what he had wanted.

Peterson now looked more than tormented. "Yes, but..."

"And if he's stronger than my human side, can you do something about it?"

Frank swallowed hard. "Yes, but..."

Mick let him go and turned to Kendlroe determined. "Gather the things you need for the tests and take as much of my blood as needed to confirm this," he said firmly.

It was apparent the vampire doctor had been waiting for this invitation, for he instantly nodded eagerly and hurried to comply with Mick's request. Beth saw the jubilant smile flitting over his lips and she didn't like it at all. She could not stand it when someone tried to gain an advantage for themselves from the anxieties of another person.

"Mick..." Peterson began again, but Mick silenced him with an angry gesture. He stared at the old man with clear disappointment in his eyes, wanted to say something, but then only shook his head.

"I can explain," Peterson managed to say softly.

"I don't want to hear it!" Mick growled at him. His fury was just beginning to blaze for real.

"But..."

"What do you think the vampire in me will do first when he wakes up? Search for and bite you? Probably not..."

"The idea is to give your body a chance to cope alone with your two sides," Frank said bravely.

"But not when I risk endangering Beth," Mick glared at him so angrily that Beth laid a calming hand on his arm, fearing he could lunge at the professor.

"Do you want to be dependent on these drugs for the rest of your life?" Beth admired the professor's courage. He was so much smaller and weaker than Mick, who had planted himself in front of him threateningly and now literally seemed to boil with rage.

"If that's what it takes," Mick pressed through gritted teeth and Beth noticed with horror that his eyes had now become seriously light.

"Mick," she intervened softly and slid between the two men. "Calm down. Frank has not done any of this out of maliciousness. He trusts you, more than the others, and for sure wanted to talk with you later about the results of the ECG – am I right, Frank?" She pressingly looked at him over her shoulder and to her relief the old man nodded.

"Of course - just not right away," he said.

Beth added quickly, "Because he's been working with you for such a long time and knows you so well," because Mick's look at the words of the professor had again darkened. "He would have noticed the signs of an imbalance in your body even without a blood test and would have given you something to correct it. Of that I'm totally sure."

She looked out the corner of her eye, as Peterson nodded again, but dared not turn to him because Mick's eyes now rested on her face and the deadly cold in his eyes was now rapidly declining.  
"_I_ didn't even notice it, Beth," Mick said, shaking his head resignedly. "How can _he_ notice it then?"

"We don't even know yet if August is right in his assumption," Beth said with a big dose of optimism.

Mick looked at her very skeptically. "Did you ever have a body temperature that was below 98.6 degrees?"

This question was not really fair. She did not really know the answer and could see Mick was heading into the sad, dark hole of depression. But Peterson came to her rescue heroically.

"Even people with normal body temperatures drop to 96.4 degrees without being dangerous," he knew. "That really means nothing, because you must have previously drawn on your vampire strength somehow. This always rattles your body a bit. But it doesn't necessarily mean that you're now more a vampire than a human."

This time, Peterson's words finally showed the effect Beth had longed for so much: They calmed Mick a little bit, because he took a deep breath and sank heavily onto one of the chairs at the kitchen table. He ran both hands in a faint gesture over his face and then looked at the professor again.

"Wouldn't it be better to take my blood every day to make sure that everything is okay with me?" he asked much quieter now and Beth inwardly made the sign of the cross. He would no longer turn into a vampire at this point.

Peterson sighed heavily. "I just fear if we do this, as soon as your blood count is only purporting that the vampire is stronger in you again, then each time you will ask for the meds which strengthens your human side. And that would greatly interfere with your natural balancing process."

Mick avoided his gaze, just stared at his hands. This showed Beth that Peterson was quite right with his guess. So she sat down opposite him on the chair, stretched out her hand and simply took one of his, as she had done it a few minutes ago already.

"Mick... you shouldn't worry about me more than yourself," she said softly. "I'm fine, really. I'm not afraid, because I know that when I'm close to you nothing will happen to me – no matter what state you're in."

"How... how can you be so sure?" he asked blankly. "After everything that has already happened..."

Beth gave an encouraging smile. "Because I just know you're hopelessly in love with me," she said in a humorous way and indeed caused Mick to laugh. But he quickly became serious again.

"I couldn't bear it if I..." He broke off, unable to voice his fears.

"I know," she said softly and gently squeezed his hand. "But that won't happen."

The expression in his eyes told her that he really struggled to believe her, to accept her optimistic attitude, but the doubts inside him were so strong that the mere sight of Kendlroe, who came back into the room, was enough to make this optimism fade.

Mick escaped her grasp to turn willingly to the overzealous doctor and Beth cast a stern glance at Peterson who opened his mouth again with a deeply disapproving look – a glance that indicated to him to keep quiet. Even if she did not like it that Mick placed himself so willingly in August's hands - it was _his_ decision and maybe it was really not so bad to let another doctor take a look at Mick's blood count. Peterson looked like a nice old man in whose mouth butter would not melt, but it was quite possible that he too had his secrets and perhaps sometimes also made decisions regarding Mick that were far more self-interested than they appeared to others.

Of course, Beth hoped that Kendlroe was wrong with regard to Mick's condition and that she could continue trusting Peterson, but the sting of doubt had pierced her subconscious and bored deeper and deeper into it without her being able to do anything about it. One thing was clear to Beth in any case: If August's prognosis was confirmed it would cost her a lot of strength to lift Mick back up again emotionally and to motivate him to let her go on with guiding him back into life.


	38. Thirst

_*__Happy Easter for all of you! Here's my new chapter as a kind of Easter egg. Hope you'll enjoy it! Moonjat54, Lucretiareadsall, Sam Brody and Loveyoujar – I thank you so much for your feedback again. It's great that at least a few of my readers know how important it is for a writer to get some reviews as kind of reward. Feel hugged! And I think I'll definitely be back at Thursday again with a new chapter. Best wishes, Jenna * _

_P.S. Hugs and kisses to Moonlightie for her translation and to SG6169 for the beta reading. You two are really a big help!_

_P.P.S. Lucretia: I don't quite know how I came up with the idea of the Nigong. I think I somehow wanted to create something that could explain the existence of vampires in a rational way, so that one can imagine that there are indeed vampires among us. So I went in the internet and researched many things about human DNA and the processes working in a human body and I searched forunusual things that really exist, searched for the explanations for this. And somehow the idea of the Nigong was born._

* * *

**T****hirst**

Donuts, coffee, perfume, aftershave, sweat ... there were a variety of odors that came to me from all directions as I moved slowly across the busy _Plaza del Sol_, but I was interested in only one: the smell of fear. For it was the one that would lead me to Paul Ritchcroft, of that I was sure.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon, free of terrorist attacks and devastating news - a good basis that there would certainly be very few people here who would pour out an excess of Cortisol, Epinephrine and Noradrenalin of fear for their lives, while they would have an increased heart rate. So our chances of identifying this Ritchcroft guy as quickly as possible was quite good, especially since not only one but also three pairs of eyes were looking for him. All my senses were strained to the utmost degree, for they also tried to check the area for possible hazards and additionally to compensate for the still-persistent numbness in my left side so that my sometimes-awkward movements wouldn't attract attention.

'Numbness' perhaps wasn't quite the right word I realized, when a man passing by brushed my arm. The humming pain, which then went through my entire left side, caused me, for a moment, to pause in my movement and struggle for breath. Instantly an unpleasant whistle resounded in my ears, which announced that my circulation was still suffering due to the non- healing injury, and made itself noticeable at the slightest excitement. I clenched my teeth so hard that a faint grinding could be heard. It had been a very, very long time ago since I had suffered such pain and had sworn to myself at that time to never again get into a situation in which there was even the tiniest possibility of somehow having to endure such pain again. Of course, I hadn't known Mick back then, otherwise I probably would have laughed about myself...

"Aren't you well, young man?" An old woman had stopped next to me, looking at me anxiously - something I really couldn't do with at all. She couldn't know that the 'young' man in front of her probably was almost six times as old as herself, and even in his damaged state still had the strength to throw her with one arm into the fountain several yards away.

Inwardly I shook my head about my aggression and tried to give her a friendly smile - after all, it was rare enough that strangers were so sympathetic about the health of other people. "Probably I was in the sun too long," I retorted happier than I felt.

The old lady seemed a little confused, for right now I was even paler than my normal state, but she returned my smile, wished me a nice day, and disappeared. I was glad that Max had lent me his leather jacket. Had the old woman noticed my injured arm, I definitely would not have gotten rid of her so quickly.

I took a deep breath and took advantage of my currently fairly safe stand to look around in more detail. The place was relatively spacious, but good to observe, as there weren't many nooks and crannies where people could hide. Fortunately, my once again well-functioning observation ability told me that right now there was no immediate threat imminent - no smell of silver, no ultrasonic noise, no frantic movements, and the atmosphere was free from the crackling charge that always started just before chaos broke loose.

The _Hard Rock Cafe_ was to my left, only a few feet away and was quite well attended. Most people had settled outside at the shaded round tables, eating, drinking, talking, laughing and enjoying the beautiful weather. In my shattered state I couldn't really take delight in the sun. It put an additional strain on me - even the sunglasses I wore didn't really provide relief. I felt as if my scalp was melting under the hot rays and would soon expose the white bone of my skull. I was dizzy, my arm was still buzzing and slowly the tremendous thirst for blood tormented me again. Nevertheless my nose finally managed to perceive the smell I had sought for so long: cold sweat, adrenaline and Cortisol.

My eyes wandered over to the tables in the direction the smell seemed to be coming from and finally rested on a single man, who, in contrast to the other guests, gave a rather nervous and tense impression. He was tall and slender and many gray strands streaked his thinning hair. He was dressed in a plain, gray suit and looked like one of those office workers who lived a completely organized, boring, and bourgeois existence. I would never have thought him to be someone who belonged to a secret organization that hunted vampires. However, all in all his appearance fit Alejandro's description quite well.

I now focused my hearing on that person, blocking out all other noises and for a moment I eagerly dedicated myself to this wonderful rhythmic throbbing that his human heart produced at a fairly rapid pace. Disturbing, however, was the not so rhythmical drumming the guy caused, for his fingers incessantly went down onto the wooden table, expressing his immense tension. This man was clearly very frightened and he was no longer able to conceal that to the outside world. Although he was wearing sunglasses, his head was conspicuously moving periodically from one direction to the other, as if to check out whether he really wasn't being approached by any danger. But maybe he was only waiting for the people who should rush to his rescue. In this case these 'people' were we, even if I had problems acknowledging that fact.

I put myself in motion, ordered my sick body to walk as smoothly as possible and to fight against the numb feeling and dull pain in my left side. Again my eyes darted over the many people who were moving across the place and finally met Guillermo's eyes, who strolled along the fountain in the middle of the place, parallel to me, indicating with a small nod that he had also discovered our new 'passenger'. I discovered Kurt not far away from him at one of the other premises. Where Max was, I didn't know. Probably he was just climbing down the roof of the café like Spiderman to jump right onto the table of this man. This idea made me smile, although I did actually throw a quick glance up the building, but reassuringly found that Max had a higher common sense than my imagination credited him.

Once again Ritchcroft glanced around to all sides and much to my anger discovered far too quickly my approaching frame. He seemed to turn to stone for a few seconds, not exactly knowing what to do, after all he couldn't tell whether I was friend or foe. Apparently he opted for the first because he remained seated rather than rushing off in a hurry. For sure Alejandro had also described me to him. Nevertheless, his heartbeat increased again and I noticed that he was becoming increasingly tense the closer I came to him. For the blink of an eye I toyed with the idea of just grabbing him by the arm and pulling him with me before he did something stupid, but since I knew that I would only attract the attention of everybody else around us, I finally slumped - unusually clumsy for a vampire - into the chair opposite him. I didn't even try to smile, because I knew it would look insincere. Ritchcroft was one of the men whom Mick had to thank for his trauma - I found it yet very difficult not to lunge at him and to immediately dig my teeth into his pale, thin neck.

"Are… are you Josef?" Ritchcroft uttered barely audible. The dark sunglasses hid the innermost feelings his eyes would have revealed to me long since. But as a vampire I didn't necessarily need to see his eyes to know that he was terrified. His body was giving away enough obvious signals...

"It's Mr. Kostan to you," I said coldly and immediately reprimanded myself inwardly, for I should try to win his trust rather than to outface him even further.

Ritchcroft's Adam's apple visibly bobbled under his skin, as if he had to swallow in order to be able to go on at all. "Listen," he whispered, "I need to get out of L.A. as fast as possible, you ... you can have any information that you need from me, but you have to get me out of this city – please!"

I knew it was dangerous, but the little sadist in me wanted to let him dangle a little while longer. He deserved to suffer.

"What can you offer me?" I asked quietly, leaning back in my chair. My shoulder punished me for that with a painful sting.

"Everything ... I..." He looked around anxiously. "But please not here..."

"Do you have any documents that can confirm your statements? Files, CD-ROMs, floppy disks ... something like that?" Actually a little smile crossed my face as Ritchcroft hurriedly reached beside him and picked up a brown briefcase, putting it onto his lap. "Everything's in here," he said quickly. "You get that and more... I promise you, but let's go, please..."

"And who says that you're not a scammer?" I asked. "Who can tell me that you're not just trying to lure us into a trap?"

The man raised his hand and took off his glasses. I looked into a pair of brown eyes that were full of terrible fear and despair. "_I_ tell you," he replied in a trembling voice. "And if you're the one I think you are, then you can discern that I'm not lying!"

For a long moment my gaze rested on his face, a moment where I wondered if Alejandro had actually told him that I was a vampire, or whether he had had enough contact with vampires to be able to recognize, for a human pretty quickly, when one was in front of him. However, he was right. The senses of a vampire worked similarly effective as a lie detector - there were only a few people who were able to outsmart us. If Ritchcroft wasn't an outstanding actor, then he was telling the truth; at least that's what my senses told me.

"Josef, what's taking you so long?" Max's voice came through the button in my ear and pulled me out of my thoughts. "Is your longing for the Legion already so great again that you necessarily want to wait until they appear?"

I took a deep breath and leaned across the table a bit. Ritchcroft's pronounced Adam's apple bobbed up and down even more in terror. "If I get the slightest idea that you're lying, if you make one suspicious move, I'll break your neck," I said softly and waited until my counterpart at least achieved an intimidated nod. I stretched out my hand to his briefcase and grabbed the handle.

"I'll take that," I said and in fact Ritchcroft let go immediately. He was indeed remarkably cooperative. I pulled the briefcase over to me and rose along with him. I staggered for a moment, but my counterpart hadn't noticed because he was busy placing a few more dollars onto the table for his coffee. When he looked at me again, I had my body back under control enough that I could start to walk with fairly firm steps. Ritchcroft followed me obediently as I lifted my head worried and adjusted my senses again on the surroundings. Something had changed suddenly, I was sure. There was such a crackle, a troubling spot approaching the Plaza del Sol with a raging speed.

I gritted my teeth, took the suitcase in my left hand, ignoring the immediate onset of pain in my arm, grabbed Ritchcroft's arm with my right hand and pulled him quickly with me into the direction of our escape route. The man tensed up, but didn't dare to make a stand against my hard grip, knowing that it wasn't without reason that I was suddenly in such a hurry.

"Josef," I heard Guillermo's voice through the headset. "We should get out here as quickly as possible. Something's happening on the south side..."

"I've already noticed it," I whispered into the direction of the microphone that was attached to my collar and even increased my speed, taking care that we didn't jostle other people or become conspicuous in any way. Now my heart began to match the rhythm of its human neighbor.

"How did they know you were here?" I asked my unwanted companion through clenched teeth. Although the adrenaline that my body now released boosted my circulation with a vengeance and provided the necessary stability for my steps, it couldn't prevent the increasing pain in my arm.

My statement seemed to shock Ritchcroft, because his eyes widened in horror and he threw a frightened glance over his shoulder. But he recollected fairly quickly. "I don't know exactly," he whispered softly to me, "but I suspect that they have access to the surveillance cameras of the police. They have done that from time to time before and then they only have to search the near surroundings closest to my last whereabouts..."

"Oh, great!" I growled and noticed that Guillermo caught up with us as we rounded the corner of the next building. Ritchcroft winced, for he couldn't know that the young man belonged to me.

"Where's Max?" I asked the rather worried-looking Mexican, and heard the man beside me sigh with relief.

"He says that he and Kurt will distract them," he explained quickly. "Don't ask me how. Didn't he radio you?"

I shook my head and returned my gaze to the street to where we were heading. Somewhere there should appear the new car that Max had ordered for us. After our kidnapping action the van was no longer safe enough to go somewhere for a stand-by position. The Legion wasn't stupid and for sure was searching for this car. And if they really did have access to the cameras of the city...

"He said he couldn't smell any silver and assumed that this squad wasn't really attuned to us," Guillermo continued. "They probably were just looking for your new friend here..."

I punished Guillermo for that remark with such a deadly gaze, that he ducked his head and kept some distance. I didn't have time for any other reaction because at that moment two inconspicuously dressed men came out of another street into the pedestrian zone and almost ran into us. Everyone else might have considered them innocent pedestrians, but I just had a feeling that they belonged to the _Legion_ and therefore reacted within seconds. With my activated vampire powers Ritchcroft turned into a flyweight and I hurled him around like a rag doll towards the two men - namely with such force that both men were swept off their feet by the collision with his body. But I didn't release my 'new friend', but pulled him back onto his feet along with me and immediately rushed forward, knowing that Guillermo would take care of our attackers. I had discovered the dark car that had just stopped at the nearby road, which promised the way to freedom and security.

Just a few quick steps and we reached the car. I tore open the back door and threw the somewhat dazed Ritchcroft into the car, together with the briefcase, following him immediately. The vampire who drove the car turned to me and gave me a quizzical look. "Should we wait for the others?"

I didn't answer immediately but glanced through the still open door. Apparently Guillermo had gotten rid of our attackers - somewhere behind him a large and excited bunch of people had gathered around the two figures lying on the ground - and was now running towards us.

"Hurry!" I shouted and slammed the door shut on my side. Each passing second it was more likely that a car from the Legion would come around the corner to follow us.

The Mexican tore open the passenger's door of the BMW, threw himself onto the seat and shouted an excited "Drive! Drive on!" towards the driver, which he immediately put into practice. He turned in a racing start of the finest and the car shot off, lining up in the traffic under the indignant honking and squealing tires of the other cars.

"Where to?" our driver asked just when I decided I'd better fasten my seatbelt. Even though I had self-healing powers and wouldn't die in an accident, I had already suffered enough pain for today and certainly wanted to forego any further bruises and other injuries.

"If we don't have a pursuer, to headquarters..." Guillermo replied and as if his remark had enticed that, again I heard the loud squealing of car tires, only this time behind us. I didn't need to turn around to know that it was a car of the Legion. I closed my eyes in resignation. Not that as well!

"And there they are..." I could hear the murmur of our driver and hoped that he too had been chosen for this job by Max as carefully as all the other men and could get us out of this whole thing unharmed. There was a sudden jolt, which tossed all of us around, when he changed lanes and shot off with a considerable increase in speed. I inhaled sharply, because once again a sharp pain shot through my arm, and saw that Ritchcroft closed his eyes, clasping his hands and pressing them against his forehead and nose. He began to pray, and I could only roll my eyes. This man didn't have any courage, no backbone, no nothing... I despise such people deeply.

Now I shot a glance over my shoulder and saw a dark car, only two cars behind us.

"Are they the only ones?" I addressed our highly focused-looking driver.

"At the moment, yes, but that may change soon if we don't get rid of them as quickly as possible," he said, sounding remarkably calm and collected. "Can you see a police patrol anywhere?"

I looked around quickly. We were on a major road, a few meters away from the traffic lights and the traffic was quite dense, but I couldn't see any of the 'cheerful helpers'.

"Nothing to see," Guillermo vocalized my thoughts and that put a big grin onto the face of the other vampire.

"Hold on!" he commanded. Then he hit the brakes - at a bright green light and at a fairly fast speed. Already the first jolt was so strong that it threw me into the seat belt and shot a truly stunning pain through my left arm into my entire left side, but it was nothing compared to the second jolt, when the car behind us slammed into us with a reasonable momentum and a deafening blast. Ritchcroft banged his head against the driver's seat, then hung in the straps benumbed, while I also threatened to pass out because my barely healed wound reopened and hot waves of pain and nausea surged through my body. Two more minor collisions followed that carried us a bit forward, then our car took off again, threw us back into our seats, shot over the yellow traffic light, leaving the freshly caused chaos behind us in just a few seconds.

A fine whistle rang through my ears when I tried hard to blink away the stars before my eyes and the approaching darkness and to get my experience of pain back under control. I was terribly angry and had to clench my teeth not to burst out into groundless swearing, although I knew very well that this action had been simply brilliant. The Legion's car had no chance of getting out of that accident anytime soon and we had a chance to gain as much distance as possible from them so they wouldn't find us.

"Nate?" I heard the voice of our driver through the hammering pain and buzzing in my head. He probably had radioed someone. "Where are you? ... That's good. Come to the car wash, Wilshire - corner of Newton Street. We're there in five minutes."

Our driver's glance sought mine in the rear view mirror. "Everything okay back there?" Even Guillermo turned to us, worried. A laceration above his right eye just began to heal.

I didn't answer but mobilized my waning powers to grab Ritchcroft's head with my healthy right arm and turned his face towards me. He was unconscious and was bleeding profusely from a laceration on his forehead. But he was breathing and appeared to be okay otherwise. The sight and smell of his blood, however, gave me considerable trouble. The aftermath of the walk in the sun and my renewed blood loss gave me a hard time, mainly because Ritchcroft also possessed one of my favorite blood types - AB negative. My eyes were probably too conspicuously sticking to our 'client's' neck, because I heard a gentle cough from the direction of Guillermo. Very reluctantly I pulled my gaze away from the source of the red lifeblood I was aching for so strongly and looked at my Mexican friend.

"Shall we switch places?" he asked with questioningly raised eyebrows.

I breathed deeply and then shook my head. "It's okay," I muttered, but even _I_ wasn't quite so sure about that. Guillermo seemed to feel the conflict in me, because he chose to no longer avert his eyes from me and instead engaged me in a conversation.

"We'll soon change the car again," he explained to me. "Namely in the car wash. A friend of Nate, who works there, will turn it off once we're in, so hopefully we can switch cars easily and unseen."

I nodded understandingly. That was more than clever. After the accident the police for sure now wanted our car as well. But I was thinking about how I could get out of this car. My circulation and my self-healing powers actually couldn't cope any longer with the strain of strenuous activities, and my wound was bleeding so severely that the entire sleeve of my shirt and the lining of Max jacket were soaked with my blood. I was so tired and exhausted like I hadn't been in a long time. Only my ever-growing thirst still held me conscious. And the smell of fresh blood next to me... I felt that I was slowly transforming.

"Josef," I heard Guillermo call from afar, while I slowly turned to Ritchcroft, exposing my fangs. Two strong hands grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me against the seat. I bared my fangs and angrily snarled at Guillermo, who had already halfway wormed his way through the front seats and used his full body weight to still me, but I didn't really have the power to struggle against him.

"Josef!" I heard his strained voice in my ear. "We're halfway there, okay? We have blood in the other car! Do you hear me?"

Of course I heard - I was wounded, not deaf. But I _needed_ some blood - right now. My healthy hand reached for Guillermo's outstretched arm and tried to push him away, but even that didn't work - even when the car stopped with a slight jerk and our driver cut the engine, Guillermo didn't get distracted from his self-imposed assignment to keep me still. My upper lip twitched with suppressed anger, while my white eyes bored into Guillermo's brown ones, promising to kill him very slowly if he didn't immediately let go of me. But even this unspoken threat left him cold. In my state, I wasn't a real threat to him, despite my advanced age. It jerked again as the car was moved forward by the tractor of the car wash. The soon approaching darkness of the small tunnel felt good. I felt a bit of peace easing into my whipped up emotions and closed my eyes for a moment.

'Breathe deeply and calmly,' I told myself. 'You'll get this under control again. In the other car, there is blood.'

"I told Max I didn't think it was such good idea to let Josef pickup this human," I could hear Guillermo say. He was speaking with our driver. "He's just too groggy. But he thought the man wouldn't come with _us_ because he was waiting for Josef..." I could almost feel my friend shake his head. "And now the fat's in the fire."

I lifted my eyelids again and inhaled deeply and immediately had Guillermo's full attention. "I'm okay," I said softly, and noted with relief that the car stopped right this moment. The loud machine noises around us, that I had previously scarcely registered, died away and our driver opened the door to get out. But Guillermo apparently didn't have any plan to let go of me. He waited until the door opened on Ritchcroft's side, someone grabbed the man and lifted him out of the car, and only then he loosened his grip. The temptation to raise my left arm and to hold the human food was strong and I resisted only because the pain and numbness in my arm was too strong for any movement. Guillermo moved back and disappeared from my blurry vision. Only seconds later the door to my side opened and my friend grabbed me by my good arm as carefully as it was possible in this situation to help me out of the car. My legs felt limp and shaky when they touched the wet floor, but they still managed to carry the main part of my weight, so I had to brace myself just a little bit onto Guillermo's offered shoulders to walk.

It was just horrible to feel so weak. Only now did I understand what Mick had gone through in the first days after his rescue. Vampires were simply not accustomed to feeling helpless and weak ...

The other car had been driven into the car wash directly in front of us and was only six feet away. Yet it wasn't easy to get to it, because we had to climb around the devices of the car wash, thoroughly taking care not to slip on the wet, soapy floor. I realized that one could also get used to stronger pain, because after a while the hum in my arm almost felt familiar to me, so I managed to concentrate on other things such as a better coordination of my movements or focusing my gaze. In doing so I realized that our driver had hefted Ritchcroft onto the back seat of the gray Audi, that would be our new vehicle, and then took the driver's seat, while an unknown man climbed into our dented car.

Guillermo led me to the passenger side, then opened the door and nodded to me. "This time you sit in front," he said firmly, and I didn't have the power to contradict him. Instead, I tiredly let myself fall down onto the seat, ignoring the new wave of pain in my arm, pulled my legs into the car and closed my eyes exhausted. I heard that the door closed and felt someone bending over me. A slight pressure on my chest and hips and a faint click told me that someone had caringly fastened my seatbelt. Another door closed and then someone grabbed my hand and put something cool and wobbly inside it. I forced myself to open my eyes and stared entranced at the plastic bag that held this delicious red liquid inside it that I hungered for so strongly. Only within seconds I had raised my hand to my mouth and dug my teeth into the plastic to greedily suck as much blood as possible into my limp body. The bag was emptied in no time and without being asked our driver handed me the next one.

"Take care that you're finished before we get back into daylight," he whispered to me and I nodded quickly, boring my teeth without hesitation into the second bag.

A faint beeping came from a small technical device at the dashboard of the car and our driver pressed a button.

"Gus?" Max familiar voice came from a loudspeaker and relief grabbed my whole body. He also had made it. "Did everything work out well?"

"Yes, we got rid of them and we now have a new car," the addressed man replied. "We're now making our way back to the quarters."

"Do that," Max returned, relief clearly resonating from his voice. "Police radio hasn't reported the number of the BMW yet, but that's only a matter of time. So hurry to get away from it."

"Will do," Gus said, took a pair of sunglasses from his breast pocket and put them on because this very moment the car wash had transported us back into daylight. As I had lost my sunglasses during our car accident, I had no choice but to fold down the sun visor and close my eyes. The empty plastic bag I simply dropped into the foot well.

"Feeling better?" I could hear Guillermo's voice close to my ear. He probably had bent forward to also watch me, but I didn't try turning around and looking at him... or even just opening my eyes. Although my strength slowly came back because of the fresh blood, I just wanted to collect it in peace. One thing was quite clear to me: the next few hours, although not quite as dangerous as before, would at least be as demanding. I not only had to question Talbot and Ritchcroft and to think about what I should do with them afterwards, but also in the quarters were maybe other vampires who were on the run from the Legion, Vampires with worries and fears and a whole lot of questions.

* * *

"Your friend from the office has woken up."

These were the first words with which Vincent, the driver of the van, greeted me when I walked into the basement under the textile factory that was serving as the new quarters for Max and his troops. Everywhere it smelled after chemicals and in some corners were boxes with material standing around, but generally the basement was relatively dry and clean and therefore a quite acceptable refuge for persecuted vampires. There were, as far as I could tell at first glance, relatively many rooms that we could use, and Guillermo had led me into the biggest of them, while Gus, who was carrying the still unconscious Ritchcroft, had just gone on down the long corridor. Here in this room the vampires had set up a small office with all sorts of technical equipment, from which they could control all actions. Two men sat at tables with computers, eagerly entering commands with their keyboards. One of them had a headset on and was speaking with someone, staring focused on a street map of LA. Therefore a lot still seemed to be happening out there and Max and Kurt also hadn't returned yet.

I tried to digest all these new impressions and to simultaneously focus on the testimony of my counterpart. I still didn't feel quite the old Josef Kostan, but in my opinion I was strong enough again to confront Talbot. During the trip Gus had fed me two more units of blood and my wounds slowly began to heal. Apparently, the great loss of blood had washed most of the silver out of my body – at least there was one positive result of this whole ordeal...

"Where is he?" I wanted to know from Vince, who had patiently waited for my somewhat slow response.

"In one of the smaller rooms," he said with a half smile. "He's pretty pissed. He immediately wanted to speak with 'the person in charge' and announced he would put us all behind bars. He refused the glass of water I offered him."

I nodded understandingly. I had expected such a reaction. "Take me to him," I said prepared and followed him out of the room. I wasn't alone, as I discovered. Of course Guillermo followed us. I looked at him, quizzically raising an eyebrow.

"Well, do you think I would leave you alone for a second with such an important man today?" he explained to me.

"I have myself under control again," I gave back to him amazingly calm, although I was somewhat bothered about the dominant tone in his voice.

"That's what you said earlier, too," Guillermo said provocatively and I knitted my brow in anger.

"I said it's okay," I knew better. "That was something completely different."

Guillermo looked at me as if I had just told him that the sky was brown and not blue. "It's not," he insisted, reminding me strongly of Mick's rather stubborn behavior. No wonder the two liked each other.

I sighed deeply and hard because we had stopped in front of a locked door and I had no time or inclination to continue arguing with him. "Okay," I said as calmly as possible, "you really can believe me this time. I won't do anything to the man in there - at least nothing that I don't have under control."

Guillermo smiled and nodded. "Then I will go with you." Mick's twin was born...

I slouched my shoulders resignedly and shook my head. Then I nodded to Vince who immediately opened the door and let us enter.

Talbot was at the bare opposite wall, in which a single barred window at the top was inserted, letting in the bright daylight. He had probably tried to get to it, because the lower half of the wall showed traces of shoes. But the ceiling of the cellar was surprisingly high and made these attempts, without any help, rather pointless. Our entry made the lawyer spin around and in his eyes now was shown a mixture of surprise, insight and unbridled fury, as he looked at me. Finally, he uttered a disparaging laugh.

"I should have known it," he brought out barely controlled.

"What should you have known?" I asked, while Vince again closed the door behind us from the outside.

"The fact that St. John's behind this," he replied without hesitation and approached me. "This... this is really unbelievable!" Again he uttered a mirthless laugh. "Where is he? Sitting somewhere out there, laughing his head off?"

"Mick has nothing to do with this," Guillermo growled and glared at the lawyer angrily. "He doesn't have a clue that..."

A lifting of my hand was enough to silence my young friend. My eyes hadn't left Talbot's face and now the corners of my mouth turned into a terribly false smile.

"I don't think that _we_ are the ones who will answer questions today," I said almost gently.

"Really?" Talbot returned with a smile. "Then it will be pretty quiet round here. Because you definitely won't hear anything from me until someone explains what's this all about." The combative look in his eyes told me that he was serious about every single word. I couldn't do anything about it - it impressed me. Very few people who had been abducted were able to face down their snatchers with such courage and even to put up such bold demands.

"What this is all about?" I repeated and crossed my arms over my chest. The motion hurt a bit, but I gritted my teeth, dissembling it. "I just want to talk to you a little bit."

"Oh," Talbot replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "and because all my phones didn't work and my secretary certainly wasn't there to give you an appointment, you thought you'd just take me with you, like all my clients do it."

My smile got even 'heartier'. "Oh, I certainly don't want to become one of your clients," I said. "I just want a private conversation without running the risk of being attacked by a troop of mercenaries or even get killed."

Talbot's smile crumbled and I could clearly hear how his heart beat a little faster. The topic seemed to worry him.

"What do you mean?" he quickly slipped back into the role of the ignoramus.

This time it was my turn to laugh. "Come on, Talbot, I know about your conversation with Beth. I know that you warned her and I was also informed in detail about what happened afterwards."

The confusion in his eyes was real. "Afterwards...?" He looked at me speechless for an instant, until an expression of genuine horror was shown in his face. "Oh, my God, is she okay?"

His concern seemed to come from deep inside him and was the only reason I responded to his question with a nod. Talbot heaved a sigh of relief. "I didn't know... I..." He looked at me seriously. "If I had known that our conversation would have put her in jeopardy, I wouldn't have let her go alone. What exactly happened?"

"Your friends only hunted her a bit through a mall," I said quietly.

Indignation showed up in Talbot's dark eyes. "They are not my..." He trailed off with a frustrated sigh and closed his eyes because he realized that he had betrayed a lot more than he had actually intended to. He lifted his eyelids, shaking his head. "When it comes down to finding someone to blame for this action, you have taken the wrong person."

"Oh, I know who the culprits are," I said casually. "The question now is, to what extent you're working with them."

And now the cold, forbidding expression in his eyes, the mask-like smile was back. "In no way at all and that's all I have to say."

"I beg to differ."

"That's your right," he replied with the same coolness. "But that doesn't change the fact that I don't have the slightest desire to, in any way, swap ideas with you."

The smile I showed him now was in fact just functioning to bare my teeth in some way, while the anger slowly began to boil inside me. I wasn't strong enough yet to face such stubbornness in a 'Josef Kostan' appropriate way and I was really struggling with my temper. "Well, _I_ think you owe us a little cooperation," I finally brought out.

"No." He reinforced the finality of his words by shaking his head. "Maybe I owe Beth something. But I can't picture her here by any stretch of the imagination."

I uttered an indignant laughter. "As if you would talk to her..."

"Miss Turner and I had, for both of us, a profitable agreement," he replied with a shrug. "I don't know why I should decide against it - assuming it wasn't her plan to kidnap and detain me in a smelly basement against my will."

I stared at my counterpart thoughtfully, simultaneously wrapping up my anger very firmly and banishing it into the farthest corner of my mind. It really seemed as if he was serious about his words, and I quickly weighed the options I otherwise had. I could frighten him by revealing myself to him, but then in the end I wouldn't have any other choice but to kill him...

"But you know what I start to think..." he went on while I listened with only half an ear. I could beat him up a little bit, dislocate a couple of his limbs, but Talbot appeared to be very stubborn, very possible that this would go nowhere...

"... somehow you have fallen out with her and are now trying to figure out what she had learned..."

Hypnosis wasn't a bad idea, but right now I couldn't think of anyone who was good enough with that...

"... or you are even in fact a traitor, and belong to the group that you're supposedly looking for."

Now I stared at him again and had great difficulty controlling myself, to keep from going for his throat. The carefully tied up package of anger was about to burst open again. Who did this rude guy think he was?! Guillermo noticed my tension and soothingly put his hand on my arm.

"Have you any proof that you work with Beth?" Talbot added provocatively and my hands clenched into fists.

"Come on, Josef," Guillermo muttered and interposed to immediately move me to the rear door. "Let's discuss this outside, okay? Vince! Let us out."

My cold gaze still rested on Talbot when the door opened behind me and Guillermo directed me out of the room. But the lawyer didn't say anything more, just returned my gaze with a composure that made me furious - until Guillermo shut the door in my face and leaned with his back to it, as if he was afraid that I would decide to storm back into the room to finish Talbot off. I had to admit that just the thought was pretty tempting...

"I can't stand him, either, Josef," my friend confessed with a deep sigh, "but somehow I can understand him. He knows neither you nor anybody else here and he knows that he was tailed by a dubious organization. And then we kidnapped him. If I were in his shoes I would also have a hard time trusting us..."

I shook my head, annoyed, but tried to cool down my blood because I knew that Guillermo was right with every word. Of course it would be stupid of Talbot to confide everything he knew to us without first ensuring that we indeed were the people we said we were, but that made it extremely difficult for me to find out whether Talbot even had any information we could use. I gritted my teeth and valiantly swallowed my anger and my pride.

"Well, what do you suggest we should do?" I addressed my friend reluctantly.

Guillermo shrugged. "He wants Beth, so we must ensure that he gets her," he said, and pushed away from the door to go ahead of me. "Kurt for sure can do something about that," he said to me over his shoulder. I frowned. If I wasn't mistaken, that meant that we once again had to put ourselves into the hands of modern technology. I just hoped that the generators here were working properly...


	39. Side by side

_*__Hello, my dear readers! Thank you for your dear feedback again, that's really feeding the muse. Here's the next chapter for you again. Hope you'll enjoy it and like always: every bit of feedback will make my day and help me to go on with my stories. And thanks and hugs to Francis for the translation and Jo for the beta reading. You're just great! Best wishes, Jenna* _

_P.S. Lucretiareadsall: There will be a Mick POV but not in Newborn but in the sequel Blood of the Lilly I'm still writing at. I didn't want to change my rhythm with Josef and Beth in Newborn but it was possible to do this in the second part. So you'll see it if you stay with me until the end of Blood of the Lily._

* * *

**S****ide by side**

* * *

_"Even the strongest man can not lift himself up."_

_ Confucius_

* * *

There are not many things to do in the desert of Mexico, if one wanted to somehow distract oneself from a state of internal restlessness. Beth had to admit that to her chagrin, as she once again went through the dark corridors of the house and looked for a way to entertain herself. She had forced herself to leave Mick alone for a while after the drawing of his blood, because he'd given her the impression that he wanted to be alone for a while to think about everything. He had not told her to leave nor had he shown any dismissive attitude towards her, unlike what she was used to from him in previous times. She had just felt it and she knew from experience that sometimes, especially in times of trouble, it was good to be alone, to reflect without interruption and to be able to act out ones emotions unobserved. But it was really hard for her not to watch him, as she knew that at some point it would be necessary to interrupt his thought spiral again and prevent him from sinking too deeply into depression and then making the wrong choices. Finding this point, of course, was quite difficult unless she could watch him. She therefore stopped each of her 'great' activities such as sweeping, cleaning the room and reading trashy novels and so forth fairly quickly in order to unobtrusively walk into the living room or kitchen and inconspicuously take a look towards the porch where Mick was spending a lot of time.

Once again her search for activity brought her to the living room where her eyes flew over to the dirty window in front of which Mick had settled on a small bench. He had not left his spot but had placed an arm over the back of the bench, bracing his head with one hand and staring motionless into the distance.

Beth's eyes wandered to the ancient clock in the living room and she realized that now almost two hours had passed since they had last talked to each other. Actually, she had hoped that he would look for her on his own after a while and come inside, but that hadn't happened. Two hours was a sufficient time of rest. It was time to get him back out of his solitary hole and touch upon the issue that she had pushed away for a while now because of its explosive nature. But as it was related to the latest developments and her new ideas it could no longer be delayed. She would have liked to give Mick more time to recover and to heal mentally, but the fuss between the two doctors and Mick's repeatedly negative and fearful reaction to his vampire nature had shown her very clearly that she had to do something in order to prevent the inhabitants of the house from once again tearing apart Mick's different sides out of sheer panic and making them fight against each other. She was sure that with time it would drive him crazy. He was not mentally stable enough to withstand such fission within himself in the long run.

Of course, she had to proceed carefully and exceedingly subtly so as not to upset him so much that he transformed inadvertently. She was very optimistic that she would succeed, certainly better than the two hysterical doctors in this house. First, however, she had to find a reason to join him outside in such a way that he would not immediately feel beset upon by her.

Beth's plan developed within seconds. She went into the kitchen, took a glass carafe off the shelf, filled it with fresh water, took two glasses from the cupboard and made her way to the porch. Due to the warm temperature outside, Mick had left the door open and this turned out to be very practical, for she had no hand free to push her way outside.

Mick immediately raised his head when he noticed her and tried to give her a gentle smile, but he could not banish the worries from his face.

"I thought you might be a little thirsty," Beth explained her appearance, and immediately placed her load on the small table beside the bench. However, she did not instantly sit down next to Mick, but decided to give him a chance to gather himself, by filling one of the glasses with water.

"Oh, that's..." He paused when she handed the glass to him and forced himself to a further smile. "Thank you." He took the glass from her quickly and put it to his lips, immediately taking a few sips of the cool liquid. Apparently this had been more than a good idea.

Beth took a little water herself and then with the glass in her hand inched closer to the railing of the porch taking in the view of the sparse but also very peaceful landscape around them. The sun by now was somewhat lower in the sky, so the shimmering heat which had even managed to get into the interior of the house, had died down a bit. But it was still very warm. It was hard to imagine that in many countries and parts of the United States spring had not even arrived.

"I've discovered that there really is life outside the house," she could hear Mick's voice behind her and she turned around to him with a slight smirk on her lips.

"I've seen _one_ rabbit and _at least_ as many birds," he added seriously, and Beth let a small laugh escape her, because she knew that Mick had made an effort to create as much of a comfortable atmosphere as possible for her. He probably didn't want to pull her down into the abyss of his soul where he already was. But he could not fool her. The glow in his eyes which had accompanied all his activities in the past two days had disappeared and had been replaced by a deeply thoughtful, melancholy expression.

Beth leaned against the railing, put her glass down and looked broodingly into the familiar features of his interesting face. "Have Peterson or Kendlroe been here again?" she simply touched on the topic that Mick actually had intended to avoid with his remark. This was clearly shown in his reaction. He immediately looked away and sat up a little assuming a clearly tense posture.

"No," he still answered her question while carefully looking at his palms. "That will probably take a while."

Beth nodded, unnoticed by him and decided to take up the whole issue immediately without any further preparation. All caution aside, it was so incredibly important that Mick knew how she felt about the whole thing _before_ the result of his blood test was fixed, that she simply could wait no longer. He seemed, despite the extended time he had spent alone with his gloomy thoughts, relatively stable, and in good condition for her task. This condition might not come again any time soon.

"Mick, can you promise me something?" she turned to him with a soft voice and waited until he lifted his head and looked into her eyes.

"That I won't withdraw from you if the result of the blood test is less positive," he instantly guessed her thoughts. Sometimes it was really creepy how accurate he seemed to know her by now. She nodded and looked at him as he inhaled and exhaled deeply. His eyes wandered past her, turned to the distant mountains which were in contrast to the bright blue sky. A tormented smile was visible on his lips. "Do you really think that I could do that at this moment?" he said softly as he looked at her again and the mental pain that his own knowledge brought him was written so clearly in his expressive eyes, that Beth's chest tightened. She wasn't used to so much openness from him about his feelings for her and she was unsure of how to handle it.

"I ... I can't stay away from you," he confessed, heavily shaken by his own feelings. "In the past I've managed it only with great difficulty, and now..." He laughed at himself, "If you only knew what is happening inside me."

Beth swallowed hard to get rid of the thick lump in her throat. "Tell me," she said softly, and although she could hardly stand her need to sit down beside him and embrace him in her arms, she remained where she was and looked at him invitingly. She wanted to give him the space that his feelings needed to unfold freely. There was so much Mick had to talk about, so much he still had to cope with.

His gaze roamed back to his hands which sought contact with each other nervously, his fingers interlacing. "I don't know... it... it's so hard to describe." His eyes searched for a new object of observation, this time clearly Beth's feet which were clad in worn-out sandals. He had to take another deep breath to be able to continue. "Everything feels so unreal... so..." He lacked the right words to continue and shook his head almost imperceptibly. He tried to find a new approach to explain himself in a different way. "I ... I'm really trying hard to find my way... but it's still so difficult... as if... as if I were moving on very thin ice which can barely carry my weight ..." He again sought her gaze to ascertain whether she could follow him.

"What ... what is beneath this ice?" she asked softly and was relieved to get anything out at all.

His gaze flickered for an instant, stressed, and she thought he would avoid her question because it was still so difficult for him to talk about the confused state of his insides. But he surprised her again with his willingness to share his thoughts and feelings with her.

"Everything that I don't want to be," he muttered barely audibly, "Everything that I don't want to feel." He ran a hand across his face as if with this gesture he could wipe away a bit of the load that he had to fight with every day. "Darkness, pain... madness... and so much anger and hatred." He shook his head again. "I was there so long and then you were suddenly back with me and all of a sudden ..."

Again he had to struggle with the emotions welling up in him. He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. "I never expected that all of a sudden everything would change. Suddenly I... I want to have everything that life can offer all at once ... and much more. I want to be a normal human again and lead a fairly normal life." He stopped again as if something within him was fighting against his frankness. But the understanding and affection that shown in Beth's eyes along with the urge to get rid of what moved him was stronger and gave him the strength to prevail.

"And above all I want to be the person I've always wanted you to have by your side," it slipped more softly from his lips and she felt how difficult it was for him to keep eye contact with her during this confession, "the one who protects you, who makes you laugh, who's by your side and just makes you happy. I... I'm just not sure if I can succeed in this ... because at the same time I see how my body tries in the most selfish way to satisfy his basic needs in such an abundance that it is almost pathological. And I don't possess the power to stop it. And when I lose control, then..."

"...the ice breaks," she finished his sentence and Mick nodded quietly.

"There's something deep inside me telling me that following you not only prevents me from breaking the ice but that it also ensures that the ground is solid under me again," he continued with a faint sigh. "You... you have given me so much hope that I can again find the way back to myself, Beth. If you were gone ..." He hesitated, because the very idea of losing her was making it difficult for him to breathe. "... I don't know if I could do it alone. You... you can not imagine how much I need you. And what makes the whole thing so difficult is that you... that being close to you has become one of my basic needs, one I always have and always need to fulfill, no matter which state I am in."

He looked at her with agitation and Beth knew that he alluded to his vampire side that had already proved several times that it, too, longed for Beth's closeness.

"You're not a danger to me, Mick," she said quietly and was amazed at herself because his words had stirred her up inside just as much as him. "Neither as a man nor as a vampire."

His gaze wandered to the ground but quickly returned to her face. "I've bitten you, Beth," he reminded her softly.

"And I had allowed you to do so before," she replied quickly, keen to not let him see that he surprised her with his knowledge. Could he really remember that?

"I would also have done it without your permission," he replied sadly.

"No." She shook her head. "You wouldn't. Not the last time. And the other time I don't count, because you were wrestling with death."

She had indeed managed to confront him a bit on his low opinion of himself. The emotions that raged inside him now provoked him so that he could no longer remain seated. He stood up in one swift movement and stepped up to the railing of the veranda letting his eyes glide restlessly over the landscape in front of him, while his thoughts seemed to spin over. "Basically, none of this matters," he finally said, and turned to her resolutely. "I'm simply not allowed to bite you, with or without your permission."

"Why not?" slipped defiantly out of her. Actually, she had not even intended to say that, for it was quite clear what level of risk came with his bite.

Mick's eyebrows closed their distance to each other in complete disbelief. "Beth, I... I could kill you!"

"You wouldn't." Again, it was her gut feeling which won out against her mind.  
"Beth, I can't really hold my vampire side in check yet."

"But _I_ can." My goodness that was a bold assertion and it got even better. "I've already managed twice to get the vampire to pull back even though you were terribly upset. I could keep you from biting me and I'm sure I could stop you even if you were drinking my blood with my permission." Her voice was so firm and determined that she almost believed herself. What madness!

Mick looked at her bewildered, but he couldn't manage to find the words that would counter her assertion, not only because he could well remember the incidents mentioned by her, but because his battered soul _wanted_ so much to believe it. She could see it in his eyes.

"Your vampire side is not uncontrollable, Mick," she stuck to her statement and took a step closer to him. She had to be near him to touch upon the difficult issue that hampered his life so much. "You just have to start to understand, to understand that the vampire in you _can_ not rest when you don't let him really live and only use him to protect yourself and your innermost self in emergency situations."

The troubled flickering in Mick's eyes was back again. "I... I don't _use_ him," he said upset and his brows furrowed so that the typically defiant angry fold over his nose appeared.

"Not consciously," she said softly and laid her hands on his upper arms in a calming gesture. "I think it's more of an automatic response which starts when you feel threatened or weakened, because you can not stand that and never want to endure it again."

"No... no," his voice was slightly hoarse and he freed himself from her grasp with ease. "The vampire in me is dangerous. He can not be controlled..."

"Mick," she interrupted him urgently and then threw all caution overboard. "There is no second person inside you that is separate from you! It is all you! You have different feelings as much as any other human, different sides, but _you_ have the control over them! _You_ use these sides, though often unconsciously, because everyone sometimes listens more to his mind and sometimes more to his gut, his instincts. Of course, there are often external influences that trigger certain behaviors, but_ you_ are able to notice this and intervene in this process. _That_ is what you need to understand. If you know yourself and understand when and why you react to certain things in a certain way, then everything will be fine."

Mick shook his head, but she felt that her words had reached him even though he so vehemently fought against it. "He... he's like a wild animal," he spat through clenched teeth, breathing heavily. But she felt no aggression, no anger - only fear, terrible fear of himself, because the protective wall he had built up so carefully around his dark memories, around his wounded soul was starting to break down.

"Yes, because he's not only fighting for his own survival but must also fight for yours," she said softly, feeling that her sympathy took the lead over her emotions. The struggle within him was now so clearly reflected in his eyes. So much suppressed fear and despair, so much sadness and anger.

"He has to ensure that he stays strong and vigilant so that no one can do anything so terrible to you ever again. I know what it's like, Mick." She swallowed hard. Her own emotions, her own memories were penetrating up from below and making it difficult to continue. But she pulled herself together bravely. "I know that what happened to you is far worse than what Coraline did to me, but I still remember how it feels to be helpless at another person's mercy and that's something I never, _never_ want to experience again."

Mick avoided her gaze looking up at the roof of the porch and then past her to the mountains, visibly struggling to retain his composure. He was breathing so hard now that his chest rose and fell noticeably and he clenched his teeth, anxious not to show outwardly the emotional chaos within him. She felt terribly sorry for him, but she had to continue, had to make him understand that she could help him to process the trauma, that she would not leave him alone with it.

"Look at me, Mick," she said softly, but he pursed his lips and shook his head. She raised her hands again and placed them gently on his face and with gentle pressure forced him to look into her eyes. She felt that she had brought him to the limits of what he could stand at the moment, knew that she had drawn awfully close to that part of himself which he so feverishly defended and which he tried to hide and close away because he knew that if he would let go, he would collapse under the weight of his feelings and all his horrible memories.

"You cannot always be strong," she nevertheless continued in a whisper, stroking her thumbs gently over his cheeks. She felt the slight tremor her words sent through his tense body; saw how the pain that surfaced in him now brought tears into his eyes. Tears he would not let out. "You don't _need_ to always be strong. Not for me, not for you and not for anyone else," she added in a husky voice, and now felt that treacherous burning in her own eyes. "You're _allowed_ to be weak. You can let everything out that tortures you so terribly. You can rage and shout and cry... because ... because I will be there to catch you, Mick... because _I_ will be strong for you."

Mick inwardly squirmed under her words, under her penetrating gaze. She felt that a part of him was longing to let himself go, to get rid of this pressure in his chest, but another part was fighting tooth and nail to not let those feelings out that would, if only for a certain period of time, take away the newly regained ground under his feet. "I ... I can't ...," he said with a broken voice, shaking his head, still visibly fighting back the tears and this haunting emotions.

"I know," she whispered, moved by his inner turmoil and with difficulty managed a gentle, compassionate smile. "I just want you to know that to be weak doesn't diminish you. I'm at your side, Mick, just as you were always there for me. With me, you're safe. We don't need your vampire strength, when we're together... we're a team, Mick, a team."

She felt a tremor pass through his body again, because his composure was taking away a lot of his strength, but he nodded, so slightly that she felt it beneath her fingers rather than saw it. She lifted one of her hands to his forehead, ran it tenderly over his temple, on to the soft, short hair along his ear and finally let her fingers rest on his neck, stroking him gently, while her eyes tried to give him the strength he needed to collect himself again. She knew that the time to really open up, to talk about the bad things that had happened to him, too, had not yet arrived, but she also felt that her words, though they were stirring him up emotionally, had given him hope… the hope that with her at his side he would be able to get through his emotional depths.

"Mick?" said a familiar voice from inside the house.

Beth uttered a silent curse. Kendlroe couldn't have chosen a worse point in time to reappear again. Mick winced violently and raised his head in alarm, but Beth didn't let go of him. Instead, she strengthened her grip around his neck, so that his troubled, still visibly upset gaze returned to her eyes again.

"No matter what the blood test shows, Mick," she said in an urgent tone, "we can do it!"

He closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. When he lifted his eyelids she could see a little bit more confidence in his eyes and he managed a slight nod. Beth let go of him reluctantly as the doctor was now calling him for the second time. Mick didn't wait any longer but hastened with long strides towards the entrance of the house. Beth followed him with a wildly beating heart but was not surprised to see that both doctors were in the living room waiting for them. Already from here she noted that they were once again not in agreement, and Beth was not sure whether she should be calmed or worried by that fact.

Kendlroe took a short breath before Mick and she had entered the living room, but Peterson still managed to be faster.

"Your values are about 65 to 35," he said a little out of breath after his rapid assent of the cellar stairs. "This is still completely in the green zone."

The rapidly produced information about his blood tests was a surprise to Mick. He stood in the middle of the room with a look of complete confusion not making a sound, just staring at the two men in front of him frowning. Beth took the initiative. "What does that mean exactly? 65 percent vampire share?"

Kendlroe nodded, but unlike his colleague, he gave a much less optimistic impression. "But I wouldn't say it's in the 'green zone' ..." he drew a few silly quotation marks into the air, "...but rather of concern."

Peterson shook his head angrily and walked directly up to Mick. "Don't let him goad you into intervening in the mechanisms of your body. It can cope with this by itself. We had this once before and it worked great." He cast a disapproving glance at Kendlroe. "'Of concern' would be the area above 80 percent. And then you can still intervene in time," he growled in the direction of the other doctor.

Mick still said nothing, but Beth could hear him inhaling haltingly, saw the turmoil in his eyes that was wearing out his nerves and grabbed his wrist sympathetically. After their emotional talk, it was all just too much for him. His sorrowful gaze fixated on her face, searching for the support she had previously promised him so explicitly, because he did not seem to really know how to deal with the new information.

Kendlroe and Peterson were anything but a help. August countered Peterson's assertion with a venomous remark, and without regard to their patient in the background they began to attack each other with scientific specialist terms and to argue about who knew better about the vampire way of life and therefore could better assess the situation. Hot Anger boiled up in Beth, and out of a natural instinct, she shouted "For God's sake!" which caused the two men to stop short. "This feels like I'm in kindergarten! Get a grip! Both of you!"

In a matter of seconds she had achieved what she and Mick longed for: Absolute silence. The two doctors were so confused by her outburst that it had left them speechless.  
Beth took a deep breath and looked up into Mick's bewildered face. "Well, it's true, isn't it?" she murmured, her lips rose in a slightly bashful grin.

"A... absolutely," he agreed with her cautiously, but she was sure she'd seen a small spark of amusement flashing in his eyes.

"How about sitting down _for once_ todiscuss this calmly," she suggested to the doctors a little more mildly and reluctantly let go of Mick to set a good example as she went ahead and sat down on the couch. Mick followed her immediately and sat down as close as possible to her. He had managed to contain himself so far and he outwardly gave a relatively calm impression, but she felt that his mental state still left a bit to be desired and that he was still dependant on her support and strength and especially her intervention.

The two doctors sat down on the rickety chairs opposite to them and her notion that instead of two adult males she had two aggressive fighting cocks in front of her grew stronger. They both had their eyes on Mick and her but from time to time they threw disapproving glances at each other. It was amazing how quickly two colleagues who had more or less respected each other could become bitter enemies.

Beth turned her face back to Mick, giving him a quizzical look. He shook his head almost imperceptibly indicating that he currently didn't feel able to initiate such a disturbing discussion. So she herself took a deep breath, inwardly bracing herself for the stress that the role of the moderator would bring. "First let us put all the facts on the table," she said firmly. "Is Mick in a bad physical condition?"

"No," Peterson said bluntly, while Kendlroe uttered "This depends upon your point of view."

Beth rolled her eyes in annoyance, and then asked more precisely. "Does he have the blood count of a sick person, whether vampire or human?"

"No," Peterson said again, and Kendlroe also shook his head reluctantly.

"But ...," he started, but Beth stifled him with a stern move of her hand.

"He's physically well, isn't he?" she asked again, and both doctors nodded.

"Especially when you consider how he was doing only a few days ago," Peterson said proudly, but ducked his head with a sheepish smile and raised his hands defensively as Beth gave him an angry glance.

"Let's move to the second point," she continued. "The hormones that make him a vampire are in the majority now?"

"Yes," this time Kendlroe said very clearly, while Peterson gave a cough and raised his finger.

"May I explain something about that," he said, ignoring his colleague who shook his head with annoyance.

"We want to collect the facts here first, Frank," he reminded him strongly and Peterson turned to him with a false smile that could even compete with Josef's shark smile.

"I know, August," he said charmingly, "but our friends are no doctors. To better understand these facts will perhaps require a little professional help."

Kendlroe immediately wanted to oppose that, but Beth interrupted him. "What's the matter exactly?" she asked Frank.

"The percentage of vampire hormones says nothing about what state Mick is currently in," said Frank, now completely ignoring the angry Kendlroe. "If this were true we would have Mick sitting here in front of us as a vampire now, but he isn't. He's still a human and is producing human blood on his own. The fact that his body temperature has dropped only means that his body is trying to reduce the surplus of vampire hormones on its own. And it will succeed ..."

"You can't know that," Kendlroe interrupted him agitated. "It can just as easily get worse. You always only assume that ..."

"Hey! Stop that!" This time it was Mick who intervened vociferously, bent forward to them threateningly and in doing so abruptly silenced the two cockerels. Beth's intervention had given him enough time to recover and he was now bringing himself back into the conversation. He spoke directly to Peterson, clearly showing that the professor was still his confidant. "I'm still more a human than a vampire," he repeated his statement, and Frank nodded. "Why?"

"That's because of your own body's immune system which is stimulated by the blocking agents to fight the V-hormones," Peterson explained patiently. "As long as the number of V-hormones does not exceed a certain level, your immune system and the cells that produce the blocking substances as a team can cope very well with this excess of vampire hormones. Which means that they can not take over, shall we say, dominance of your body and as long as that works you won't change back into a vampire. You will continue to turn only if you feel threatened or are very excited."

Now August just had to intervene. "But you will turn more quickly than if the proportion of the V-hormones is below 50 percent," he added angrily. "And every time you do so the danger is greater that the percentage is too high and you can't turn back into a human."

"That's bullshit!" Frank got all worked up and jumped to his feet. "There is _always_ the opportunity to bring you back to your human condition!"

"What I wanted to say, though, is 'on his own'!" August amended at an inappropriate volume.

Mick already showed serious signs that his nerves were quite frayed again. He closed his eyes, propped his elbows on his thighs and buried his face in his hands. Beth couldn't think of anything else other than to shout "Stop it!" again. She jumped back up and put her hands on her hips in a threatening gesture. "If you both can't keep your voices down, I'll throw you out and we'll talk with each one of you individually! Is that clear?"

August's cheek muscles twitched with inner tension and anger, but he nodded reluctantly, he could not stand back behind Frank who was acting much more reasonable. The professor finally seemed to notice that his behavior affected Mick a lot and looked at them with a guilty expression.

"I... I'm sorry," he apologized softly, which caused Mick to take his hands from his face and lean back exhausted on the couch.

Beth nodded and took a deep breath. "It would really help us all if you only talked when we speak directly to you," she said a bit more quietly. "Well ...." She tried to sort her thoughts in order to ask the right questions, those which would help Mick and herself to make the right decisions. "What would be the worst possible scenario if Mick took no medication now?" She turned deliberately to Frank. Mick needed the answer from an optimist if he wanted to avoid having a nervous breakdown which would inevitably lead to a transformation.

Peterson thought for a moment. "I think August has already drawn the worst possible scenario," he said. "A transformation that his body may not be able to reverse without outside help."

Beth frowned. "Wasn't it like this the whole time?" She probed. "You have always injected him with something so that he would return to his human state."

August cleared his throat before Frank could express himself attracting Beth's attention against her will. "May I?" He asked politely and she nodded grudgingly.

"He has so far received only an anesthetic. The transformation back into a human his body always took place on its own."

"And that would no longer be so easy?"

"So easy?" Kendlroe gave her a compassionate smile. "It would no longer be possible at all."

Beth's eyes wandered back to Peterson because she noticed that he was getting quite agitated but now he held back with a vengeance for Mick's sake.

"Yes, please…" she challenged him and secretly harbored the hope that he would invalidate the assertion of his colleague immediately.

"It would still not be that dramatic," he answered to her relief, "I would just give him some of the elixir which was especially developed for such situations and within minutes he would become human again." His gaze wandered over to Mick who had followed the whole discussion in silence, but was significantly upset. "We've already gone through that a few times before, Mick," he said gently. "I know that you don't want to remember the time in the lab, but you know perfectly well that the cure works even in such tense situations. It's totally unnecessary to take it as a preventive measure."

"I disagree," August barged in, but at least he did it in a calm tone. "Why would we take the risk that Mick might change and perhaps injure someone fatally?"

Oh, what a nasty comment! Beth knew that he hinted at her with this and cast a warning glance at August but the doctor ignored her and opened his mouth to continue. However, Frank was faster.

"Because we want to give Mick a chance to get a grip on his body on his own," he said quickly, "so that he will be able to lead a normal life one day as a human and not as a creature of the underworld."

A contemptuous smile appeared on August's lips and Beth felt that he must somehow have a trump card up his sleeve that he was going to play now.

"Oh... and that's why you give him sleeping pills at night," he said in a sharp voice, "because he is so normal and can live without medical help."

Beth did not believe her ears and cast an unbelieving and deeply shocked gaze at Frank. "What?" she uttered with a small voice.

Peterson raised his hands and shook his head quickly. "This ... is not the way it sounds," he stammered, "There are other reasons, I ..."

"Such as?" August asked instead of Beth, who still had to digest what she had heard. No wonder the past few nights had gone so smoothly and without disturbance. Someone who was under anesthesia could hardly be beset by terrible nightmares.

The answer to this question, surprisingly, came from a completely different direction. "I asked him for it," Mick said very softly, but Beth could hear him anyway. She turned to him with wide eyes and had to blink a few times to understand what he had just said.

"I just wanted ..." He looked away and had to take a breath once again before he could continue. "It's just that I've usually transformed whenever I've had a nightmare or something similar and when you came back here again ..."

He said nothing more. Nor did he really need to. It was immediately clear to her that again he had cared for her safety above his own welfare. Just a typical Mick reaction.

"It's not any of those hard drugs," Frank went to his patient's rescue. "Only a very light sleeping pill which can be stopped at any time. And it does not interfere with the natural processes in his body, which the other cure that August wants to give him because of the V-hormones does in a very dramatic way. After taking it his body will once again have to start from scratch!"

Beth closed her eyes briefly. She hadn't yet processed the thing with the sedative and it was really difficult for her to come back to the actual topic.

"Not if we are dosing it carefully," August turned with an urgent voice to Mick. "Then it can be quite helpful ..."

"But it isn't necessary," Frank countered.

"It makes a transformation and thereby an endangerment to other people far more unlikely," August admonished the two humans before him.

"But we don't want you to fight the vampire in you, Mick," Frank switched over to another tactic. "He's a part of you that you must come to terms with. You have to learn to get your inner vampire under control and you can not do that if we give you this cure every time it gets a bit harder to control him."

All Beth could do was to nod. Frank said what she had thought herself and she looked with deep sympathy at the man beside her who was entangled in his burdening thoughts. Driven by a natural need she moved her hand towards him, encircled his hand that was resting on his thigh gently with her fingers and in doing so regained his full attention. He looked terribly confused but at the same time seemed to desperately search for the right solution for his problem. She gave him a warm smile and immediately felt as if a bit of his internal tension left him. To look into her eyes was enough to give him some support and strength.

"I'm with you," she said softly. "No matter what you decide."

Mick looked at her for a long moment and with each second that passed he gained more strength, more confidence and more determination. Finally, his thumb gently stroked over her fingers and one corner of his mouth lifted into a small, lopsided smile. "A team," he repeated her words from earlier and a wave of relief flooded her body bringing a beaming smile to her face. Sometimes only a few words were enough to understand each other completely.

August, however, furrowed his brow in confusion. "What ... what does that mean?"

"The fact that we try it without the cure," Beth smiled and this time it was the doctor who looked at them in disbelief with his mouth gaping. Apparently he hadn't expected to lose this battle. Peterson, however, heaved a deep sigh and let himself fall back in his armchair exhausted. Just like Beth he was aware how tight the decision had turned out. What he did not know was that without Beth's groundwork the odds of getting Mick to have confidence in his own strength would have been much more against them. And once again Beth praised herself for her own timing and her well-functioning gut feeling. It all couldn't have been any closer.

Mick still looked at her and she could see in the depths of his eyes that he was slowly calming down and but still needed the contact with her to make itself felt for a long time to come. She knew he would not doubt his decision unless something terribly exciting happened.

"Beth?" It was Seth's voice which ripped her out of her thoughts and she turned around frowning, looking at the entrance to the living room where the young man had appeared so suddenly.

"Logan says you should come downstairs," he explained. "Josef wants to talk to you."

Now Beth was really surprised. "Why not just bring me the phone?"

"He is not on the phone," Seth said. "We are connected via the Internet. And ... it's really urgent."

That didn't sound good and Beth turned around to look at Mick quickly. He along with the other two people who were present was as surprised as she was.

"There's certainly nothing wrong," she said off-handedly, trying to smile. Mick had just calmed down and she wanted to avoid at all costs getting him upset again. "I'll be back soon," she added as she let go of his hand and stood up.

Her eyes turned to August who understood her unspoken request immediately. Although he was clearly very reluctant to bow to her will he also rose and cleared his throat. "I'll ... go downstairs with her. I should pay a visit to one of the freezers," he said, and preceded her at once.

Knowing all about his secret gave Beth a certain advantage, she had to admit. She gave Mick another encouraging smile and then made her way to the basement. She hoped that the unpleasant feeling that was spreading in her stomach wouldn't have any reason to increase even further once she got down there.


	40. Quid pro quo

_*__Here's the new chapter again. I'm so glad you liked the last one so much and of course hope you'll like this one as well. I thank you so much for your motivating reviews. It was so great to read them and they really made my day. Need that kind of support badly. And if some of you think 'oh, I don't think my few words will be important for Jenna' then you're totally wrong. Every single word is important to me and helps me to go on. I __**love**__ all of your reviews for they show me that I'm not doing this for nothing, that I'm able to enjoy other people with my story – and that's just great! So please, don't be too shy to leave me a comment. I need this – most of all because there's something wrong with Fanfiction. net and I cannot see the hits anymore. So I don't know if someone is reading my new chapters – very frustrating. Okay, and now I'll leave you alone and hope to see you at Thursday again. Best wishes, Jenna*_

_P.S. A big hug to Sg6169, who was again my beta reader!_

**Q****uid pro quo **

* * *

"_The bargain is the art to commit abuse with the wish or the desire that someone has in relation to something." _

_Edmond__ Huot de Goncour _

* * *

"You did what?" Beth's voice almost cracked in view of the new, unexpected news. She on the contrary barely surprised me for I had expected a similar reaction.

"I've invited Talbot for a private conference in our quarters," I repeated patiently, bracing myself inwardly for the next outburst.

"Which means in the language of a normal mortal that you have abducted him."

Quick conclusions had always been Beth's strong point and in situations like this it was quite a big help. This way I didn't need to pussyfoot around too long.

"That is not necessarily the wording _I _would choose, but... it's about right, yes," I replied with a small smile. I had forgotten that the little camera attached to the monitor I sat in front of made sure that she was not only able to hear me but also could see me.

"You think this is funny, don't you?" she rose up shaking her head and I shrugged, a bit undecided.

"Not everything, but certain parts of this story..." which currently didn't want to come to my mind. "But this wasn't the reason I sent for you," I continued, before she could reprimand me. "Talbot vehemently refuses to cooperate with us. He only wants to speak with you - some people have a soft spot for the fair sex - and before I have to hurt him, I thought to myself to first ask you if you would want to have a little chat with him."

I watched her expression of anger changing into shock and finally into disbelief. It's really amazing what razor-sharp images the modern media could produce even over such big distances.

"You... you... he... what?" she stuttered and showed me that her mind could not yet cope with the new information. Apparently today she wasn't mentally quite as sharp as usual.  
I took a deep breath. "Talbot only wants to speak with you because he trusts no one else here. And we need to know what kind of connections he has with the Legion, what this organization wants from him and what he knows about Mick and vampires. So it would be very kind of you, if you simply said very quickly 'But of course I'll help you, Josef' then I can get him here and can get rid of the man just as quickly."

Of course, she didn't do me that favor.

"What... what do you mean by getting rid of him, Josef?" she asked, alarmed.

"Well, draining him, wrapping him in a carpet and throwing him into the nearest river, what else?" I replied a little annoyed. The fact that she really believed me for a moment as her eyes got wide stung me a bit.

"That isn't funny, Josef," she said angrily when it dawned on her that I had just tried to provoke her as usual. "I... I don't know what to say to this. Where did you get the idea to kidnap Ben?"

"That was the only way to speak with him without getting picked up by the Legion," I replied still quite calmly, although my whole body tingled with tension as I urgently wanted to move ahead.

"And now you really wonder that he doesn't want to talk to you?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Quite the contrary, I actually was prepared for this, but as he has offered to chat with you this opens up a totally new possibility to educe the information we need from him in a painless, non dramatic way."

Beth looked at me in silence for a while and I knew she was thinking not only about whether she should subject herself to a talk with Talbot, but she also had to digest the fact that I wouldn't hesitate to use violence to make the lawyer talk. Now she knew that I wasn't just putting pressure on her but was being honest.

"Okay...." She took a deep breath. "How exactly do you imagine this whole thing should happen?"

"I get Talbot here, you talk with him and give him as little information as possible and Kurt here..." I clapped the man next to me on the shoulder, "... will inconspicuously record the whole thing."

"I can do this as well," sounded a voice from the speaker and Logan held his boyish face into the camera so that he completely screened Beth.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. "Then do it if you like," I growled. "But now back off!"

Logan backed out instantly, but could not help first reaching out his raised thumb, grinning. I saw Beth cast a confused glance at him and then turned back to me.

"What exactly shall I ask him?" She asked visibly stressed. "What do you want me to find out?"

"Just take up where you left off the last time you talked with him," I advised her with a quick shrug. "You certainly were on the right track. And honestly, someone like Talbot can not really match up to a Beth Turner."

I grinned broadly and could see that my compliment didn't fail to have the desired effect. Beth nevertheless rolled her eyes, but could do nothing against the grin which was causing her lips to curl up. "Okay," she murmured squaring her shoulders. "Then... get him here."

I turned to Guillermo who was standing only two feet behind me and looked at him invitingly. The Mexican nodded understandingly and then disappeared along with Vincent from the room.

"Well, I hope it works," I could hear Max grumbling from the seating area opposite me. He and Kurt had appeared in the quarters only half an hour ago, exhausted and thirsty but unharmed. They, too, had escaped the Legion and now had to recover from the efforts of the last hours. However, Kurt, who was also a little tired, had immediately agreed to help me and was now sitting next to me at his PC, while Max was keeping himself busy with simply watching us with his arms crossed over his chest and lounging in the armchair. He didn't really understand why we were handling Talbot 'with kid gloves'. For him there were faster and sturdier methods to get information. But I felt that he underestimated Talbot's resistance. And then there was Beth with her sensitivity.

I decided not to elaborate on Max's comment and turned back to the screen instead to see that Beth looked at me with critically furrowed brows.

"Tell me ... are you all right, Josef?" she asked immediately.

I gave her a slightly confused look. "Yeah, why?"

"Because your left sleeve is a slightly different color than your right," she replied, and I checked her statement with a brief glance. I had almost forgotten about this. 'Sleeve' was hardly the right term any more for that red crusted, torn piece of fabric. It was really careless of me not to have anything done about it. In this whole fight and escape clutter, I began slowly to lose myself. That was not good... not good at all. After all, I had a reputation to maintain.

When I looked at Beth again a large degree of worry had appeared on her face. "Are you injured?"  
"Not that badly," I lied, and gave her again a gentle smile. "It was just a scratch and was healed in no time."

Kurt cast an astonished glance at me from the side. I ignored him and tried to distract Beth instead. "And all of you are all right?"

She put on an anxiously confident face and nodded emphatically. I had noticed her slight hesitation and knew that she, too, wasn't being completely honest with me.

"We are all on quite good terms so far," she said. "There were no really dramatic incidents."

Not really dramatic... indeed. But apparently there _had_ been some incidents and the expression in Beth's eyes told me that she indeed wanted to talk to me about them. Only not right now.

"How's Mick?" I had to ask after all. Even through the technical connection via the internet it did not slip my attention that a warm glow appeared in the young woman's eyes and this really calmed me down.

"It's a constant up and down," she admitted honestly. "But he still makes quite a lot of progresses - I think."

I nodded, satisfied. Of course, Beth was not a doctor, but concerning Mick's mental state I could rely on her statements much better than on those of the two doctors in the farmhouse. Mick and Beth really had an amazingly intense emotional connection to each other, which in a case like this was more than helpful as I had learned in the past days.

I wanted to say something more but just at that moment Guillermo led the quite annoyed Benjamin Talbot rudely into the room followed by Vincent, shaking his head disbelievingly. Some vampires have real problems trying to endure the emotional outbursts of humans and Talbot seems to have troubled the two men as Guillermo also looked considerably annoyed.

"What... what's the point in _this_ now again?" the lawyer snapped at me as soon as he had seen me and I nodded to Guillermo who roughly pushed him towards me with distinct pleasure in his eyes.

Talbot gave him another indignant glance and angrily straightened his jacket then winced violently as he turned again to me because I no longer sat in my chair but all at once was right in front of him. He drew his brows together confused and made a small step backwards.

"You wanted to talk to Beth," I said with an overstated friendly smile, raised my arm and pointed in an inviting gesture to the now free seat in front of the PC.

Talbot's eyes quickly contacted mine and he looked at me searchingly, as if he did not know if I was serious about my offer. But when I added nothing else but only waited, he walked to my seat and sat down before the PC full of suspicion. He seemed to be genuinely surprised when Beth smiled at him kindly from the screen.

"Hi, Ben," I could hear her say and approached him from behind as quietly as possible.

For a moment the lawyer had to struggle to retain his composure before he was able to answer her. So his mistrust towards me had not been faked. Or it simply surprised him that I had found a way to let him talk to Beth without bringing her personally to him.

"I wouldn't have dreamed that you were really cooperating with these criminals, Beth," he finally said and shook his head.

"They are not criminals, Ben," she said surprisingly calm, while I wondered if a small clout would really reduce his cooperation a lot. "The real criminals have tailed and followed you this whole time so that it was virtually impossible to approach you without risking our lives."

"And who are these other criminals," Ben returned with arrogantly raised eyebrows, but Beth didn't let him outface her.

"I'm not sure about this," she replied calmly. "But I think that what I know and what you know combined may gave a much more accurate picture of these people than we currently can build alone."

Talbot leaned slightly back in his chair and looked thoughtfully at the young woman on the screen. I could almost feel his mind racing, how he weighed the options offered to him, what he could tell and what he could not tell and if we indeed had information that could be of the utmost importance for him.

"Is St. John with you?" he asked suddenly, surprising not only me but also Beth.

It took her a few seconds to collect herself. "That ... that doesn't matter," she stammered and tensely skimmed a few blonde strands of hair from her face which her braid had not been able to hold back.

"Oh, I think it does," he replied with a small evil smile. "If we are to continue our conversation from Friday then we should seize on all topics that had mattered to me in that conversation. Quid pro quo, Beth, as always, right?"

Talbot made his conditions quite clear. However, he on the other hand showed in doing so that he would be cooperative to a certain extent. Beth seemed to share my thoughts, for she nodded, after some hesitation. "As always," she confirmed his question and inhaled deeply the same time as I did.

Talbot ignored my presence and leaned toward the monitor. "So... is St. John at the same place where you are?"

Beth hesitated again. Then she nodded.

"Is he now with you in the room?"

"No, and I will definitely not send for him." Anger flared up in Beth's beautiful eyes. But she had herself still under control. Her voice was firm but free from aggression.

"How am I to believe you then?" the lawyer asked with a false smile.

"What do you want from Mick?" Beth just passed his question and put again just my own thoughts into words.

"Not much," he replied evasively. "I would just like to know how fast a man with such skills as he seems to possess recovers from a serious injury. Can he again walk around?" The tone he spoke with told me that he did not really believe it, but his questions were dangerous. That he even knew about Mick's self-healing skills worried me deeply. Who knew with whom he had already talked about this subject.

"I've told you before that Mick has no super powers," Beth tried to save what was beyond saving. "Of course he's still laid up and not able to make an appearance here!"

"That calms me," Talbot smiled but I didn't really have the impression that he believed her at all. "Not that you start to think I would be happy if he was unwell." What a lie! "But such a rapid recovery would confuse me very much."

"Who wouldn't be?" Beth replied and affected a laugh. "But now it's my turn, Ben. At our last meeting you warned me against the people who were after you. You said that they are powerful. So, you had been informed about them in some way. Who are they and what do they want from you?"

Talbot's cool composure began to crumble at these words. He settled back seemingly as cool as a cucumber and thought about what he could tell us, but his pulse quickened a bit and I saw him swallow several times before he spoke.

"I don't think it matters if I tell you what I know," he decided. "I perceive this group, despite the information they pass to me every now and then, more as a nuisance than as a great help. I'm pretty sure they intend to use me for their purposes, whatever that includes, and therefore..." He took a deep breath. "It started about a year ago when the 'Emma Monaghan' case vanished into thin air in a mysterious way," he gave me a quick glance over his shoulder as if he knew that I had something to do with Emma's disappearance but then turned to Beth to continue: "Someone had placed an envelope in front of my office door and I got the first mysterious, and of course anonymous, phone call."

"What was in the envelope?" Beth probed immediately.

"A multi-page list," Talbot admitted bluntly and I held my breath for a heartbeat.

"What was on the list?" escaped my lips softly.

Talbot looked slightly to the side but did not bother to look me directly in the eye. After all, I had interfered in the conversation uninvited. "Names," he said quietly and now his eyes wandered to my face. "A lot of names including yours were on it." He looked back at the monitor, searching Beth's gaze. "As well as St John's."

Meanwhile, I could tell how difficult it was for Beth to keep her composure in view of this information. "And ... and what did they tell you about it?"

"At first, not much. Only that the list is solely reserved for me and that they would call me again. I thought at first that they were pulling my leg because I found on the list names like _de Sade_, and _Rasputin _and...," a chuckle escaped him, "..._Caesar_, but when I researched the other, less obvious names, I realized that behind them were hidden some real, still living people with very strange pasts."

"In what way were they _strange_?" I growled extremely tense even though I could already guess what he meant. Our cover was very good but not perfect or flawless.

This time Talbot turned to me and eyed me with an interested look in his eyes. "You for example. You have a wonderfully gapless life career from birth until the present day no errors, no abnormalities. But if one takes a picture of you and searches information with it, one can discover amazing things."

"Really?" I asked with a smile and crossed my arms over my chest.

The lawyer nodded. "Especially a lot of different names such as Charles Fitzgerald, Matthew McSwain or Joseph Konstantine."

Now it was my turn to laugh. "You think _that_'s amazing? You must have certain family members who haven't got the same name as you, but still look a lot like you. And with regard to 'Joseph Konstantine' ... that _is _me. I'm not an unknown man in LA, and sometimes I want nothing more than to get away from everyone else. What's easier then than to pretend to be someone else?"

"So, it's that simple." Talbot said and affected another smile which I returned equally warmly.

"Exactly."

"And this extreme likeness to the 'relatives' is just pure coincidence," Talbot brought out loosely. "Just as with St. John and his 'father'."

"See?" I said gently. "Never let it be said that we don't understand each other."

Talbot's smile now got slightly tighter. But he nodded again. "It would indeed be very strange if all these different names and CVs belonged to only one person. Do you know what this would mean?"

"That I would be more than one hundred years old?" I asked, laughing, and Ben joined in spiritedly, but got suddenly serious again.

"Exactly," he said with a slightly lurking tone. "And do you know what the funniest thing about the whole thing is?"

This time I did not respond with another question, but just tried to look as relaxed as possible and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"That the group that sent me the list wanted to make me believe exactly that," he continued and his eyes virtually bored into mine trying to grasp every movement of my face. But there was nothing to be found. If I had learned anything in the more than four hundred years of my life that had passed, it was how to conceal my feelings and thoughts from other people.

"That's absolutely ridiculous," Beth said through the monitor to rescue me and Talbot turned to her reluctantly. "With over one hundred years of life, you for sure wouldn't look like _that_."

"I've told them that, too," Talbot replied. "But they said that all these people are not real humans, but...," for a rational man like Talbot it was apparently difficult to use such a word "... demons."

"And you believed them?" it burst out of Beth indignantly. She acquitted herself really well and gave me the chance to collect myself and to search for a good excuse for all the mysterious things the lawyer had encountered. Only problem was that nothing crossed my mind at the moment.

Talbot screwed up his face in anger. "No, of course not! But there are things that are... strange and just can not be explained in a simple way. And I simply cannot leave it at that especially when some dubious sects with connections in political circles try to use my position to take advantages for themselves and do some illegal things in my district behind my back. I need to know what's behind this… this mystery! And I know that St. John is somehow involved in this whole thing. I know that you all know more than you want to admit and that you can help me, Beth! That's the only reason I agreed to this conversation. I want to know what's going on here so that I know who's playing with me and why."

"Didn't _they_ give you a reason?" Beth squirmed free of her loss to explain. "Didn't they tell you yet what they wanted from you?"

"Not really," Talbot answered to my surprise. "Until now they've just wanted me to personally take care of all the cases that have to do with the people on the list and to ensure that these cases don't attract too much attention."

For a moment Beth just looked at him with her mouth open. Then clear indignation and finally anger started to sparkle in her eyes. "I knew it!" she sputtered. "I knew there was a reason why you took over Mick's case and why it was shelved so quickly."

"He wasn't shelved," Talbot interrupted her brusquely. "Maybe on the surface but not from my side. I worked further on the case as much as I could, precisely because I know you both, Beth."

"And because you already had a file of Mick," she added ungraciously. "In fact you only want to find out his secret."

I closed my eyes because it was very clear to me that this faux pas would not go unnoticed by Talbot.

"Does he _have_ a secret?" he asked promptly and Beth looked as if she wanted to press a hand to her mouth in shock. But she controlled herself and only her fingers resting on the table before her twitched briefly.

"Everyone has little secrets," she evaded his question with a gentle smile. "But if you think that Mick covers something up which could get him into trouble, you're wrong."

Talbot tilted his head slightly and watched the young woman on the monitor in silence. "Today you've not been that cooperative, Beth," he noted critically. "But _I_ have given you so much and I think it is about time that I get something, too."

"Perhaps you are simply asking the wrong questions," Beth replied relaxed.

The lawyer laughed joylessly. "Well, then let me try it in a different way. Has this group that has contacted me had something to do with Mick's disappearance?"

"I think you know the answer," Beth responded.

"But I want to hear it from you."

"Yes," the young woman admitted while I was still wondering whether we should answer the question at all. Too late.

"What have they done to him?" Talbot immediately stuck to the topic.

"We're not sure yet," Beth lied convincingly. "Mick's not really in his right mind yet. It will take a while until he's able to tell us what's happened to him."

"That means you have no idea?" Talbot asked and I clearly heard something lurking in his voice.

Beth hesitated for a moment before she answered. "We have suspicions," she admitted reluctantly.

"I have them too," Talbot replied. "And I've read his medical record and talked with his doctor in the hospital who told me some really astonishing things." He did not give the impression that he wanted to share his knowledge with us and Beth apparently didn't even want to go any further in this direction.

"Then you probably already have an idea of your own as to why Mick was kidnapped," she turned the tables. "Apparently you too have dipped into his last case."

Talbot began to smile. "You're talking about this mysterious file again, the one about the alleged kidnapping of 'Peterson' you think St. John had with him."

"Exactly," she smiled back. "And which you have taken because Mick had learned a few things about this Jeffersen."

"You begin to speculate, Beth."

She nodded. "And I'm pretty good at it."

Now the whole conversation got a little more interesting. Although Talbot again tried to carry it off well he tensed up again and his heartbeat increased a bit. Beth was on the right track.

"So?" She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

Talbot crossed his arms over his chest and pursed his lips. What I would have given in this moment for his thoughts.

"What exactly do you think you'll hear from me?" he asked after a little while. "Do you want to know what Mick has found out? Then you can ask him that yourself."

There he was certainly right. I had wanted to do this for a while but had always gotten sidetracked. Really sloppy.

"I think you probably know how Jeffersen is involved with the people tailing you," said Beth.  
Talbot raised his eyebrows in astonishment. "You really didn't speak with St. John about his case then, did you?"

His question surprised both me and Beth, for it pointed to the fact that Mick, in the short time he had worked on the case, had indeed found out a lot. Our failure to question him about it proved to be a growing problem because Talbot did not look as if he wanted to enlighten us.

But Beth was not shaken off so easily. "As I had noticed in the past, Jeffersen had been involved in a fraud and bribery scandal. But the charge was dropped unexpectedly. You'd investigated him then and the last time we met you told me that you had to submit to a higher power."

"I definitely didn't say it like that," Talbot stonewalled her. "And even if... I'm not allowed to talk to you about my cases."

He tensed up when I laid a hand on his shoulder and squeezed a bit. "Relax," I muttered. "This is just between us."

"I'm not going to talk with you two about Jeffersen," Talbot uttered emphatically but he didn't look at me.

"Then tell us at least if there is a connection between Mick's abduction and his investigation into Jeffersen," Beth suggested quickly for my still quite gentle threat hadn't escaped her attention. She looked a bit worried and even Talbot noticed it as his pulse quickened one more time. He was probably not as cool as he always pretended to be outwardly.

"I think, and this is really just my subjective judgment, that it would definitely be possible that Mick has gotten, because of his investigations, on the wrong side of someone with much power," the lawyer admitted after some hesitation and I let go of him again as a reward. His statement put another complexion on Mick's kidnapping. Apparently, there had been more than one reason to abduct him and make him incapable of action by doing so.

"And who is this person?" Beth remained obstinate.

"I don't know," was the not very fruitful response. "And I wouldn't tell you even _if_ I knew. These are _my_ investigations and no one else's business… except maybe Mick's." He smiled, but stopped abruptly when my hand landed on his shoulder anew.

"Do you want to make us believe that you would talk to him about it?" I asked, amused.

He looked up at me and even though my touch was so unpleasant for him an impressive fearlessness was shown in his eyes. "I wouldn't say no," he said seriously. "If he's willing to give me some more information as well."

He was serious, I could feel it. Of course, it was currently impossible to get Mick into the basement. Not only because I knew that my friend didn't really like being in the basement, but also because Talbot was not allowed to know how good Mick's condition already was. On the other hand, I knew that we would probably not be able to talk with the lawyer so 'privately' very soon again if he survived this whole thing at all. After all, the Legion had noticed that we had kidnapped him. We were in quite a quandary.

I already inhaled to discreetly make Talbot aware of his own precarious position when Gus rushed into the room heading directly for me.

"Ritchcroft has woken up," he whispered to me and again I felt Talbot tensing under my fingers. "He's in a tizzy and keen to talk to you. Right now." This came at a really bad time.

"Ritchcroft?" I heard Talbot ask alarmed and I looked at him frowning. "Paul Ritchcroft?"

Of course! This name _had_ to mean something to him if he had dealt with the Jeffersen case. By Alejandro's account Ritchcroft had been Jeffersen's assistant! Why had I forgotten this important fact?

Talbot uttered an incredulous laugh. "Don't tell me you've kidnapped this man as well?"

I smiled at him. "Believe it or not, the man asked me to meet him."

"Did he?" Talbot gave me a very skeptical glance. "Then bring him here. If you want to know something about Jeffersen, then he's probably the best source."

Talbot was indeed right about this even if he maybe hoped in this way to get new information himself. My thoughts spun over and took me quickly into a direction that was very bold but might also cause the smarmy lawyer to let himself go a bit more.

I tilted my head and looked at him in silence for a few seconds, really confronting him and then smiled. "You know what? That is exactly what I'm going to do," I said and focused on his facial expressions. He was a little surprised that I had paid heed to his suggestion but the idea of meeting Ritchcroft didn't frighten him. No quickened pulse, no breath holding, no outbreak of cold sweat. I slowly became convinced that Talbot was not an agent of the _Legion_. He had, in fact, no idea as to who or what the Legion was and what these people did. He did not even know their name. He did not know that Ritchcroft was an insider who wanted to betray his own people and because of that was in possession of highly explosive information.

I now totally let go of Talbot and bent slightly down to the camera over the monitor. Beth looked at me with an expression of profound confusion, but it was impossible for me to tell her in front of Talbot what the deal with Ritchcroft was and what I planned.

"I'll be right back," I promised her and told her with a penetrating glance that in my absence she should take care not to let Talbot grill her too much about anything. She nodded understandingly and I straightened myself again and turned to Guillermo who had settled on the other chair next to Max and discreetly taken a backseat so far. I nodded my head slightly toward Talbot and the Mexican understood immediately. He got up and took my place behind Talbot while I followed Gus out of the room. My body began to tingle strangely as I walked down the hall and tried to work out a strategy for how I could make the best of the looming conversation. The two men weren't really predictable, mainly because I didn't know how they would react to each other. All I knew was that I couldn't lose control of the situation in any case, because, unlike Talbot, Ritchcroft knew exactly what we were and why the _Legion_ had kidnapped Mick.


	41. Tricky Turnarounds

_*__Hi there! Here comes one of the longest chapters of my story. So you have much to read (and to review *grins*). I thank you so much for the great feedback again. I loved every single one of them. *spreads out a lot of hugs and kisses* And a fat hug to Morgana who translated this long chapter and to SG6169 for the fast beta reading – without her quick help I would not be able to post the whole chapter today but only the first part of it. So see you all at Sunday again!*_

* * *

**T****ricky turnarounds**

Unorganized plans and quick decisions always had a tendency to get out of control and make the people who were involved sweat badly. Usually one didn't have the time or leisure to consider all eventualities and in doing so nip all potential risks in the bud.

Exactly this thought crossed Beth's mind when she heard noises from the stairs, which told her clearly that someone else was coming down them, while she simultaneously tried to give a calm, confident impression to Ben Talbot. She prayed inwardly that it was not Mick, although the chances were high that he would be the one coming down them. He had always been an attentive, interested person and of course the announcement that Josef was needing Beth for something, had aroused his occupational curiosity - no matter in which sensitive emotional state he was at the moment. She was dead certain of that. The only question was, whether the 'old' Mick would succeed in crowding out the fears of the 'new Mick' and would ultimately prevail.

"Honestly, Beth," now Talbot had to resume the conversation with her as well. "Did you know what Kostan had intended to do with me?"

Beth forced herself with all her might to continue looking at the monitor and not stare at the basement door. "Not in detail," she lied convincingly. "But roughly..." Ben should not believe that he could drive a wedge between herself and her friends...

She held her breath as she saw from the corner of her eye, the door opened. She noticed the outline of a tall, broad-shouldered figure, followed by a smaller, narrower one and knew that her fears were realized.

"I see… 'roughly'," Ben repeated suspiciously. She had to struggle with herself to not look over at Mick, who with Peterson, approached the long desk that was covered with multiple screens and other technical equipment, much too quickly. She gave Logan, who sat beside her a light kick and he, surprisingly, understood immediately what she wanted, turned around in his chair and raised both hands to prevent Mick and Peterson from getting into the radius of the camera.

Beth's heart was now pounding violently in her chest, but she registered that Mick stopped. His sense for precarious situations worked perfectly well again, because he gave Peterson, who just took a breath to say something, a light nudge and tried to communicate immediately with Logan in a nonverbal way.

"Perhaps this was a form of revenge for the trouble you had after our last conversation," Talbot considered aloud and Beth groaned inwardly. Her last mission was one of the few blunders that Mick wasn't aware of yet. This would get quite unpleasant for her later.  
"It wasn't that terrible," she said, declining and noted with unease that Mick had grabbed a chair from a corner and carried it to her table. Her conversation with Talbot had awakened his interest - gloomy basement rooms and related fears aside.

"The uncomfortable circumstances of this conversation are because you are watched and followed every step," she tried to keep talking to Talbot as casually as possible, "and it is therefore impossible to have a conversation with you unnoticed."

Mick sat down across from her on the other side of the table, while the professor stepped with a worried look just to his side. Now she was able to take a quick look at Mick without attracting Talbot's attention. Mick seemed indeed interested and awake, but to her great relief also significantly more composed and steady than during their conversation with the doctors. Peterson had probably done good rework. Now their main concern was to preserve this state - with the sensitive topics of conversation she had already raised with the lawyer, not a particularly easy task.

"Why unnoticed?" Talbot probed nitpicky. "Or let me rephrase that: What do these people want from you and Kostan? Are they really just after St. John? Or is there something else behind this all?"

Beth did not know how she should answer this question, so she decided to return to a counterattack. "What do _you_ think? These people have already described their motives, which you understandably do not want to believe. But you must have your own thoughts about the whole affair..."

Ben gave a faint laugh. "No, Beth. Now it's your turn to answer me one question honestly... Otherwise, you will hear nothing more from me."

She leaned slightly back in her chair and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she returned calmly, admiring her own performance. "Perhaps you have no more information that we cannot simply get from this other guy..."

"Maybe..." Talbot smiled arrogantly as ever, but she knew that she had put him under pressure with her last statement because his next try to draw information out of her testified to that. "How about if I ask you questions that you can simply answer with a 'yes' or 'no'. That cannot be that bad..."

She shrugged her shoulders again. "Try it."

The lawyer leaned back a little bit also and scratched his forehead thoughtfully. "Did the people who abducted St. John drug him?"

Beth could not do anything about it; her gaze flew automatically toward Mick, searching his eyes for resistance, discomfort or anger. But he reacted quite unexpected, as he nodded to her encouragingly, and reached almost in the same second for a pad and a pen lying on the desk in front of Logan.

She looked quickly back to Talbot, who already frowned, puzzled, and simply passed Mick's nod on to him. Her answer confirmed the theory Talbot had developed. He looked oddly pleased.

"Do these drugs have an effect on the healing processes in his body?" he asked on.

Beth was not sure what Talbot was driving at but she just nodded again. It was better when the lawyer explained Mick's supernatural strength with the abuse of drugs so that eventually he even began to believe the Legion.

"They have treated him like guinea pig, right?" was the next most unpleasant question. Beth noticed from the corner of her eye that Mick was writing something down on the pad and bit back the urge to check whether he was able to cope with this uncomfortable subject. But she also did not want to answer Talbot's question, so she just looked at him in silence.  
"They did, right?" he repeated his question in a slightly different form. "They've tested new developed stimulants or other drugs on him. Do you know why?"

Beth remained silent. Not only because she still did not want to answer his question, but also because she had to decipher within seconds what Mick had written on the pad, which he now held up to her.

"Since when did you know that this organization was conducting tests on humans?" She asked reading the note and Talbot was taken aback. Tension replaced his confident, relaxed attitude. He wasn't comfortable with her words at all and he had to clear his throat several times, to be able to speak. "I _know_ nothing," he tried to evade her question, "I have only certain assumptions..."

"Since when?" She repeated relentlessly.

Talbot inhaled deeply. "A couple of months."

She could hardly believe her own ears. "A couple of _months_?" She repeated with a sharp voice.

"Beth..."

"That means you already knew about it, when I asked the last time, if something new had happened in Mick's case?" it burst furiously out of her. "Did you also know that... that they had kidnapped Mick?"

"I didn't _know_ it, Beth!" Talbot responded now a whole lot louder.

"Oh, sorry," Beth scoffed, "you just _assumed_ it..."

Ben let out a deep sigh and shook his head. "Listen, Beth, all my work is only as effective as it is because I painstakingly pay attention to everything I do and that it's based on verifiable facts. I cannot send out a task force just because I have a guess!"

She lowered her gaze. She couldn't look at Talbot and didn't _want_ to look at Mick. She had to calm down again - at least for Mick. But the idea that they could have been able to free Mick much earlier was unbearable...

"If I had known, really known where St. John was," Talbot went on in a tone pleading for her understanding, "then I would have sprung him instantly. I swear, Beth..."

She lifted her eyes to the ceiling and pretended as if she was deliberately ignoring Talbot by looking over the top of the monitor. In reality, however, she had noticed that Mick once again held up the pad. Her eyes slid worried over his face, just for a split second. He was a little paler than before, and breathed a little more irregular, but looked at her clearly invitingly. He wished for her to continue, and that was the only reason, why she read what he had written and turned back to Talbot.

"So you've gotten the idea the organization which sent you the list, was experimenting with human beings..." she began to provoke the point. "But how? What led you to this conclusion? Another case, or - one that was related most closely to the intrigues of these people - The case of Jefferson..."

Ben obviously avoided her gaze, looked past the screen and took a deep breath. "I've told you repeatedly that I will not talk to you about my case, Beth..."

"The Henderson & Field Corporation has run laboratories," Beth spoke Mick's written words. "At least you've figured this out just like the fact that this company has a high value for your 'tails'. One day you were able to figure out, what cruel game these people were playing."

Ben's cheek muscles twitched with tension, and finally he turned to her again. "I had only a slight idea," he said, hardly able to control himself. "Only guesses, thoughts, against which I struggled, simply because they _were_ so cruel. And I still don't know if my assumptions are correct..."

"But you have investigated this company." It was more a statement than a question and Talbot understood it.

"Not officially," he replied quickly. "That was more my personal concern."

"Why?" Beth asked immediately. "You said you didn't know that Mick's disappearance was linked with this company. What had peaked your interest? How did you become suspicious of this company?"

Ben lowered his gaze on the table before him, and ran a hand across his neck, like he was trying to dissipate a tension there.

"This scandal about Jefferson had something to do with this company, didn't it?" Beth probed further and was sure that she was right.

"No," Talbot said bluntly and did not give the impression that he was lying. This baffled Beth indeed, until Mick made his presence felt again and pointed impatiently with his finger at his new notes. She glanced at the words and couldn't help but bite back a small grin as she turned to Talbot again.

"Okay, then, the Saxton-company in which he had become a silent partner without permission," she said, and could see Talbot's self-confidence disappearing within a few seconds and being replaced by incredulous astonishment. Logan, beside her, gave her a thumbs-up encouraging her even more. "He has illegally used party funds to support this company."

"Where ... where do you know that from?" he uttered shocked.

"And he knew about the research projects of the Henderson & Field Corporation, because he had promoted them himself," she simply went on, without paying the slightest attention to his question.

"You... you've been able to speak with St. John already," Talbot exclaimed excited. "He _is_ responsive. Is he with you?"

* * *

Ritchcroft looked frightened, pale and sick, and my sight only lifted his spirits minimally. Understandable, since he knew I was a vampire and therefore was angry with him. Nevertheless, he stood up immediately from the narrow couch that stood in the small room as I entered, and took a hesitant step toward me. My negative demeanor let the effort to face me as kindly as possible die off immediately.

"Alejandro had assured me that nothing would happen to me and that someone would bring me to a safe place," he said with a trembling voice. The rapid beat of his heart told me that once again fear was creeping up in him.

"Well, you _are_ safe," I replied coolly, "and nothing _has_ happened to you so far, right? Except for the little accident..."

Ritchcroft automatically brought a hand to his forehead, felt the blood-caked scab and nodded with a notable delay. "You know, I've never been in such a delicate situation before, and my nerves are..."

"Yeah, yeah," I interrupted him rudely and in doing so silenced him immediately. "Sit down!"

Like a puppet, he followed my rough instructions and sat down on the couch, staring at me fixedly with big, frightened eyes.

"We will stick to what Alejandro has promised you if you cooperate with us to our satisfaction," I said, continuously walking up and down in front of the man. "That means I need all the information you can give me about the Legion, and especially their plans concerning the vampire problem."

I stopped in front of him and gave him a black look so the man even ducked his head a little. "If I find out that you are keeping secrets from me or that you intend to screw me, you must expect consequences that will exceed your most terrible fantasies in scale and finality by miles."

Ritchcroft swallowed hard and nodded. "I'm not lying to you, I..."

"What I indeed need from you now, however, is information about a certain person," I simply passed over his attempt to reaffirm his loyalty to me. "Does the name Benjamin Talbot mean anything you?"

Ritchcroft seemed to have problems switching so quickly because he had furrow his brows and took stock of himself in order to boost his mind and memory, but eventually he succeeded and his face lit up. "That ... that's this ambitious district attorney, right?"

I nodded silently and waited for further information.

Ritchcroft looked slightly confused. "What... What exactly do you want to hear from me?"

"The Legion is tailing him, why?"

Again his forehead crinkled into thoughtful folds. He screwed up his eyes briefly. "Talbot has troubled my former boss strongly with his charge..."

"And that's why he's still being tailed?" I uttered in disbelief. Patience was not my strong suit at the moment.

"Sometimes... but there are other reasons," Ritchcroft said, for _my_ demands a little bit too unwillingly.  
"Which are?"

"They usually profit well from people in his position - mainly because of the situation the Legion is in at the moment. Everything goes haywire, and their actions thus begin to attract attention in public. Therefore, the Legion is in urgent need of allies in the right places to cover up their mistakes and to ensure that no one notices what's going on."

"That means they have recruited Talbot?"

Ritchcroft shook his head. "It was the plan to recruit him. But he's stubborn and they could not act as forcibly and quickly as usual, because at the moment the man is too much in the spotlight."

I could not conceal my bafflement from him. "In which way is he in the spotlight?" I asked and surprised my counterpart with this.

"You don't know? I thought if you are so interested in him, you would for sure know about it..."

"About what?" The aggression was most likely a bit too clearly heard in my voice, because Ritchcroft recoiled from me frightened. Maybe I shouldn't have bend down to him so menacingly...

"About the... the charge against Miller," the man stammered. "Since yesterday it's been all over the news."

"Senator Miller?" I exclaimed aghast.

"Yes, Talbot has taken over the case," Ritchcroft hastened to answer my question. "And I guess he will also put Jefferson back in the docket. After all, the two of them have worked together."

"Now just tell me they are both members of the Legion," I uttered excitedly and was not surprised when the man confirmed my assumption with a nod. "If they indeed get unmasked and prosecuted..." I went on considering, but this time it was Ritchcroft who cut in.

"That won't happen," he interrupted me, shaking his head. "If Talbot doesn't abandon this lawsuit or even goes through with this, neither Miller nor Jefferson will go to trial. They will probably - commit suicide."

His tone told me that this would be a faked suicide, and somehow that worried me a bit. Our time was running out. "And Talbot?" I asked. "Why should the Legion continue trying to recruit him, when time is pressing that much, and he's becoming such a threat to their organization?"

Ritchcroft smiled gently. "They have no other choice if they don't want to mess with the most powerful people of this country," he said quietly and I only furrowed my brows puzzled, so he felt constrained to speak on: "Does the name John G. Ruthers mean something to you?"

"Do you really think I am such an illiterate idiot?" I retorted angrily. "He's the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the United States..."

"... and Benjamin Talbot's uncle," Ritchcroft added and I froze. For a moment I had lost the ability to express myself in words.

Nevertheless my counterpart nodded as if I had just said something useful. "Now you understand why Talbot has nothing to fear from the Legion," he thought to see through me. "Anyway, as long as he doesn't turn out to be an extreme threat to them. But I think other powerful people will watch out for this not to happen."

My thoughts got into business for themselves again, and my eyes narrowed. "Does Ruthers know about the Legion?"

Ritchcroft shrugged his shoulders a bit helpless. "I don't know exactly, but... I think so. He knows some of the higher-ranking men of the Legion personally..."

"Is he a member himself?"

"No." This time Ritchcroft was sure. "And he doesn't let them pressure him, I think. I was instructed to organize the tailing of Talbot as discreetly as possible so no one from the higher circles would notice. They don't want to make Ruthers angry, under any circumstances."

"But usually he tolerates their actions?"

"I don't know. That is only known by the top level, I had no insight in...."

"Does he know about us Vampires?"

The man shrugged his shoulders helplessly and showed me in doing so he would only repeat his answer.

I inhaled deeply and ran one hand nervously through my short hair. This information was so important to me but I wasn't able to take more time with him alone. Beth had been alone with Talbot long enough.

"Well," I said, grabbed the frightened Ritchcroft by his arm and pulled him with ease to his feet. "We'll have to discuss everything else later," I added. "You will now come with me and only do what I tell you to do."

The man nodded intimidated and could barely hide his relief when I let go of him again and opened the door of the room. He was about to go out, but I blocked his path and looked into his eyes with such intensity that he respectfully backed away from me a little bit.

"Not a word about vampires and my friend Mick," I growled. "Talbot is clueless about this and this is how it will stay. You answer his questions only if I allow you to, okay?"

Again, the answer was a silent nod, but then Ritchcroft paused in the middle of the movement. "Did you say... Talbot's here?"

* * *

Beth sat motionless for far too long now and could not prevent her shocked eyes from darting to Mick and remaining on his astonished face for several seconds. He collected himself more quickly than she and with an excited gesture made it quite clear to her that she needed to concentrate on Talbot to not arouse more suspicion.

"No... I've already told you," she brought out far too late and far too uncertain and made the lawyer's feeling of superiority increase enormously.

"You're lying," he replied with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. "You've just cast a glance at him."

"I didn't look at Mick, but to him here," Beth reacted quickly and in her desperation simply grabbed Logan by the collar, pulled him into the receiving area of the camera.

Talbot wrinkled his forehead now quite puzzled. "And who is that?"

The vampire let out an embarrassed laugh and briefly raised his hand in greeting. "Hi!" he brought out reluctantly. "I'm... Luke, the pc-pal..."

"And from him you have received this information?" Talbot didn't want to believe her; she could hear it in his voice.

"Hard to believe, but it's the truth," Logan replied in place of Beth and she was truly grateful to him for that. He now held his head deliberately in front of the camera so she could turn to Mick with a desperate gaze, who immediately leaned forward to her.

"Ignore his questions," he whispered to her, while Logan explained to Talbot in precise detail and with a loud voice, that with his talent, he could fish information about anyone that was needed from the network.

"Ask him, who made him drop the lawsuit against Jefferson," Mick whispered. Beth nodded quickly and pulled at Logan's shirt, so he would clear some space for her.

"If you knew all these things about this dubious company and Jefferson," she began even before Talbot could start to say something, "how could they stop you from seeing the arrest judgment against this man through to the finish?"

But this time, Talbot remained stubborn. "No, Beth, I don't fall so easily for your excuses. You have insider information that was unknown to you just a few minutes ago. You cannot search the Internet so fast! There is someone else in the room with you, who knows this case extremely well... And that can only be Mick... I..." Talbot broke off in the middle of the sentence. His eyes widened and his mouth opened in amazement, while Beth wondered what had happened - until she noticed the lawyer no longer looked at her, but looked at one point behind her.

"She got the information from me," she heard the professor's voice directly behind her and she closed her eyes briefly. That was not as bad as if Talbot had seen Mick, but she knew that Josef would not approve of it. It was not good when outsiders noticed that Mick and the professor were in same place and they could basically kill two birds with one stone if they found out where they were.

"You... You're Dr. Frank Peterson," Talbot stammered totally perplex and Beth took advantage once more of his confusion to look at Mick. He had, however, buried his face in his hands and took a deep breath - obviously he was anything but fond of Peterson's intervention.

"You were supposedly abducted," Talbot went on and thus caught Beth's attention again quickly.

"Not supposedly," the professor said and stepped beside Beth, "but in fact. Miss Turner and Mr. Kostan have freed me from the hands of my captors, and probably saved my life."

It was really nice of the old man that he tried to present Josef in a good light in front of Talbot, but the lawyer didn't seem to care about this.

"Where have you been all this time?" he asked agitated. "Where did they keep you imprisoned?"  
"In the same laboratories as Mr. St. John," Peterson replied calmly. "Occasionally we moved, but we have always been in laboratories."

"And... they did tests on you as well?" Talbot's eyes betrayed that he wasn't serious about his question. He was smart enough to put two and two together and there was such an aggressive gleam in his brown eyes.

Peterson looked at the ground for a moment, but then raised his gaze with a repentant look in his eyes. "No, I ... I've carried out these experiments myself..."

"Of course, just because you were forced to do so..." Talbot smiled false. The experiments, which had taken place behind his back, made him angrier than Beth would have assumed. Profound contempt for the professor spoke from his voice. "Did you get to work on St. John yourself, or was it someone else? What did you do with him? Only drug tests or other experiments as well? Had it been necessary tests or were there also a few sadists among you scientists? Did you make him scream?"

Beth was hardly surprised that Mick rose with a quick movement and moved a few steps toward the cellar door. The way Talbot was talking about what had happened to him was even difficult for her to bear. She prayed inwardly that Mick was sensible enough to notice when his limits were reached, and would go up to the living room again. But of course he didn't do that. He reverted to his old pattern: Don't show weakness! Clench your teeth and fight! Even if it's against you...

He remained at the door, braced himself on the frame, lowering his head, and tried to breath deeply and calmly, tried to collect himself. Beth's desire to jump up, take him by the hand and bring him upstairs personally increased from second to second.

"Did you take delight in tormenting him and the other subjects?" Talbot probed and Peterson's facial expression showed that Mick wasn't the only one who was bothered by his unsparing words.

"No!" he uttered pressed and his eyes began to shine suspiciously moist. "It isn't like that! I... I was indeed abducted and did all these bad things involuntarily and not with joy..."

"So you claim that your abduction was not a ruse to lure St. John into a trap?" Talbot looked at the old man with extreme skepticism and Beth ventured another look in Mick's direction. He stood upright again and looked over to them, but he still looked much too upset, was not breathing regularly. She had to go to him now, had to convince him to go back upstairs.

"Frank, don't you want to sit down to make your position clear to Ben," she offered the old man and stood up. Her heart did a few quick beats, because she expected an objection from Talbot, but he was so eager to make mincemeat of Peterson that he was asking the next question, before the man had even sat down.

"Why did the missing persons report come so late then and after you had disappeared for more than six months?"

"I don't doubt the Legion used my kidnapping as a bait for Mick," Beth heard Peterson say and froze halfway back to Mick, "but I had nothing to do with it. I _was_ abducted - though much earlier, but that changes nothing regarding this fact."

"The… _Legion_?" Of course, Talbot hadn't failed to notice this name and Beth shut her eyes resigned and turned back to the monitor. Somehow this conversation was going slowly out of control, since Josef had left to get this other guy. Where had he gone for so long?

"Yes," the professor gave back a little confused. "These are the people who kidnapped me and Mick. The same people who also tail you!"

"They call themselves 'The Legion'?" Talbot had to laugh. "Who do they think they are? A chosen elite unit of the omnipotence of God?"

"Something like that," Mick whispered right behind Beth and she winced slightly, for she had not even noticed that he had approached her on his own. She looked at him over her shoulder and saw to her relief the harried turmoil in his eyes had almost withdrawn. Nevertheless, she turned to him and gently took his hand. "You should go upstairs," she whispered anxiously. "We can handle this...," 'without you', she had wanted to say, but Peterson's words let her voice fail.

"I think so," he answered Talbots question without restraining. "So far as I understand it, they hold the view that they have the task to protect mankind from the demons of this world and to fight them with all available means"

Mick made a shocked step forward and only because Beth pulled with all her strength on his arm was she able to prevent him from entering the radius of the web cam. She saw how he had to purse his lips firmly, not to interrupt the professor, and simply placed herself in front of him, emphatically shaking her head.

"Demons?" the lawyer repeated, and Beth almost heard that he was grinning. "So that's what they told you as well. Is that because of the tests on humans? They believe that someone like St. John is possessed by a demon?"

"Yes," Peterson said, and Beth was forced to press her hands against Mick's chest, as he again showed clear signs of wanting to interfere.

"If he sees you, he's going to believe these stories," she hissed at him and shoved him back with a vengeance.

"He... he betrays us," Mick whispered and she noted with unease that his eyes were a whole lot brighter than before. She shook her head repeatedly, although she had major concerns about Peterson's statements herself.

"Why?" Talbot probed into cleverly. "What makes him so special?"

"His genes."

Beth reacted faster than Mick and that was the only reason she was able to avoid the worst. She braced herself with all her strength against him before the professor's words had even filtered down to him and pressed him into the nearest wall. His defense was, for a man of his size and constitution, fairly weak. He was still too human to be able to switch off his fears of accidentally hurting her. He just grabbed her wrists and pushed her at arm's length away, giving her a blankly upset gaze.

"What do you mean?" She could hear Talbot ask; while she was begging Mick with her eyes not to interfere and continue to stay in the background.

"His body responds, because of a small factor in his DNA, differently to certain medicine than most other people," Peterson explained.

"With 'medicine' you mean drugs..." Talbot translated his words for himself. "Stimulants?"

Peterson nodded, and Beth could feel how Mick slowly relaxed. The professor was not as simpleminded, as they had both assumed.

"Can these drugs, you have developed with this - 'group' - can they give St. John powers that exceed those of a normal human being?"

The professor nodded again and Mick dropped his arms and in doing so also Beth's wrists. The critical point had outgrown for now, and she could only resist with difficulty to let out a deep, relieved sigh.

"And this... genetic predisposition... are there other people, who have it too?" Talbot asked.

"Yes, several," Peterson confirmed his statement and Beth noticed that he does not even lie. Basically that all was true - only that he had chosen words, that took away the whole supernatural, eerie aura, and satisfied not only Talbot but also the other vampires in this room.

"Kostan as well?" asked the lawyer.

"But of course," was the bit too friendly reply. But it did not come from Peterson. It did not even come from this room, but from the loudspeakers of the monitor. It was Josef's voice.

* * *

Vampire composure was sometimes a real blessing. If I had entered the room as a human, I would have flown off the handle in a rage, not only because this impudent lawyer dared to pump my friends in my absence in a most intensive way, but also because Beth had mutated into an older man with glasses, who calmly _spilled_ things that Talbot was better-off not knowing. Of course he was not stupid enough to tell the lawyer the whole truth, but for me, even half the truth was too much.

The wide grin I gave the lawyer, who had turned to me nearly caught, almost pained me, that hard I had to strain myself to pull it off. But I could not let Talbot know how annoyed I was about the exchange of information behind my back.

To my own astonishment, Talbot stood up respectfully, or so I thought, until the moment I realized that it was neither because of me nor out of respect that he had arisen. It was out of curiosity for the man who entered the room directly behind me, a little scared, which led him to act this way.

"Paul, it's... it's you," he uttered in a disbelieving laugh as he moved a few steps our way. He apparently had forgotten all his questions about genetically special people from one moment to the next.

"Benjamin Talbot," Ritchcroft replied with a small mirthless smile, as if he had to remind the man of his own name. "Apparently it's our fate to always meet under the most unusual circumstances."

I pricked up my ears. What exactly did the guy mean by that?

"Yes," replied the lawyer and the falsity of his smile told me that his memory of the older one was not necessarily of a positive nature. "The last time, you were in my office at an unusual hour, destroying files, weren't you?"

Ritchcroft's false reunion joy disappeared within a few seconds from his face. He looked like he wanted to say something in return, but then only compressed his lips and wrapped himself in silence.

"What are you doing here?" Talbot asked in his unpleasantly forceful way. "Are you here voluntarily?"

Ritchcroft looked at me questioningly and I nodded to him as I noticed from the corner of my eye that Kurt had turned the web cam on us anew to let my friends in Mexico share in our conversation.

"More or less," said Ritchcroft and Talbot immediately pulled his dark brows together suspiciously. "I am dependent on the help of Mr. Kostan."

"How much?"

Another questioning gaze made me intervene. "Let's just say that he wouldn't survive the night, if he moved without personal security in LA."

Talbot screwed up his face into a mockingly respectful smile. "Have you now also entered the security business, Kostan?"

"If you want to succeed in this world, you have to be versatile," I replied with a mocked tone of paternal wisdom. "You'll learn this one day too..."

How awesome! He was vexed! There was an angry sparkle in his dark eyes, though his expression remained unchanged, friendly. However, he turned to Ritchcroft again.

"Just who are you afraid of that you let yourself trade with that..." Talbot searched for the right word, "... bloodsucker?"

I could not help it. My eyebrows jumped up surprised and my eyes widened in wonder and amusement. Talbot had somehow tried to offend me and had no idea how close he came to the truth with his words.

Again Ritchcroft sought my eyes and I made him understand without a word that he could talk.

"The Legion hunts me ... and probably wants my life."

"The _Legion_...," the lawyer repeated broodingly. "That's this organization Jeffersen belongs to, isn't it? The same organization that has also stuck to _my_ heels..."

Ritchcroft nodded sadly.

"Were you a part of them?"

The older man responded with another nod.

"How long?"

"Twenty-five years," was the shocking answer.

"And why do they want to kill you now?"

Ritchcroft heaved a deep sigh. "Because I've done some things other members do not agree with," he admitted reluctantly. "Some of us have fallen out with the others and now ... I have no other choice but to flee."

"And you can think of no other way than to go to the people you've worked against in the past?"

Talbot's visible doubts were not unfounded. Even if Ritchcroft had initially gone to Alejandro and his organization - he knew that the Mexican was in contact with us vampires. Alejandro Diego Rojas name was not without reason on the list of the Legion.

"Yes," Ritchcroft said without further ado, "exactly, _because_ they are threatened by the Legion since year one and had to hide now and then from them. They know better than anyone else how to escape from the Legion."

I did not like Talbot's pensive look. "Since year one?" he probed interested and I knew the time had come to censor this little conversation.

"I think, the topic why everyone is here, is finished now," I simply intervened before Ritchcroft could answer the question of the lawyer. "What interests me most, are the circumstances in which you've met each other."

"But you already know this," Talbot gave me a false smile.

"Because of the Jeffersen-scandal," Ritchcroft answered my question and ensured that Talbot's beautiful toothpaste smile slipped quickly from his face.

"Mr. Talbot here, had taken over the case and then researched it so conscientiously like only young, aspiring careerists do."

The look, Talbot gave his 'old acquaintance' was fatal, but he could not scare him. Who paid attention to the threatening gestures of a vain rooster, when a snarling wolf drew circles around him?

"This probably means that he had information against Jeffersen in his hands," I concluded from his words with visible pleasure and Ritchcroft confirmed my statement with a short nod.

"We broke a sweat badly," the man admitted. "And by that I mean not only Jeffersen and his team, but also another large part of the Legion."

"What exactly was there to find out about Jeffersen?" I intentionally asked Ritchcroft and I could clearly feel how Talbot's grievance against me grew and grew.

"Jeffersen had not been a member of the Legion that long," admitted the older man openly. "He joined us about five years ago. From the beginning it was clear he would not be an all too active member - more one who cares about financing projects and protecting the organization within the state system."

"How many of these people do exist?" I asked keen-eared.

Ritchcroft had to think for a moment about my question. "I can't tell you the exact number - at least not concerning all states. But here in the southwest it would have to be eight to ten... "

The horror was clearly shown on my face, because immediately Ritchcroft lifted his hands to calm me down. "They are not all high-ranking politicians. Most of them are businessmen like yourself who finance the campaigns of the Legion in their districts."

"But Jeffersen was on his way to becoming a leading politician," bringing him back to our real topic.

"Yes, he had to do this also on behalf of the Legion," Ritchcroft agreed to my assertion. "The more allies they have in the government, the more they are protected..."

A contemptuous laughter next to me reminded me that Talbot still attended to our conversation. "I feel like I am in one of those bad political thrillers," he exclaimed scornfully. "Do you want us to believe seriously that your mini-organization infiltrated the political system and wants to take over the government itself?"

"God forbid!" Ritchcroft gave back surprised. "Our aim is not to take over the government of the United States. All we want to do is protect this country and its people." It was amazing how fast the man used the word 'we' while speaking about the Legion's aims. In doing so he made it clear that he had not changed his inner attitude toward us vampires, but only the circumstances he now found himself in were different.

"Against whom or what?" the lawyer asked blankly.

"Against the..." Ritchcroft had registered my menacing look in time, "... people with special abilities. They ... they're dangerous, for each of us and thus for our entire state."

"And yet you let these dangerous people help you," Talbot countered. Somehow I could not escape the feeling that Ritchcroft's words helped us to gather sympathy points from the young lawyer.

"I ... I just don't want to die," Ritchcroft replied gloomily.

"Like your girlfriend Sabrina Wolters," it slipped coolly from Talbot's lips and this news really surprised me. "You know you're wanted by the police for her murder?"

The color drained slowly but steadily away from the narrow face of his opponent. But he nodded silently. "That's how the Legion usually works when chasing a traitor. They blame you for a crime you haven't committed, so the police divest them from part of the work. And mostly commit the crime against a person you love - as kind of a punishment." Ritchcroft exhaled trembling. "I ... I'm basically socially ruined. There is no one else who can help me."

"What about Jeffersen," Talbot asked unaffected. "He should still have enough connections to help you."

"Have you tried to reach him in the last few days?" was the resigned counter question and Talbot had to shake his head.

"He has disappeared without a trace," Ritchcroft added. "Either he has long since left the country or he's..." He didn't speak on, but he indeed did not need to. All other attendees could imagine what happened to the man.

"I don't understand this," Talbot broke the pensive silence which had caught us for a few seconds. "You seem to be convinced the Legion is doing the right thing. In what way did you betray your comrades?"

"'Betray' is not quite the right word," the addressed one explained. "The Legion has existed for so long now and there has always been from time to time some differences of opinion regarding the organization, the strategies and dealings with our enemies... But in the last two years the situation has been aggravated in someway and two hardened fronts have formed. One side is now only concerned with the total extinction of our enemies, while the other is of the opinion that we should go slower and perhaps exploit their special strengths."

"Therefore the labs," Talbot realized correctly. "They... they have studied and manipulated their opponents."

Ritchcroft nodded far too excited for my taste and I automatically clenched my fists and teeth. 'Just don't think about what these people did with Mick... Just don't think about it...'

"We got amazing results and would have certainly achieved a breakthrough soon, if the others had not thwarted our plans."

"You say 'we', so that means you belonged to the 'research department'," the lawyer concluded from his words and I could hear the disapproval in his voice.

"I was not actively involved in it, but I have distributed and administered funds for the laboratories close to LA with Jeffersen and organized operations and stayed on top of things." He almost sounded proud and a tingling sensation in my upper jaw announced to me that my fangs wanted to slide out. I gritted my teeth and tried to breathe consistently and calmly. Good thing Mick wasn't here. He would have probably torn the man up - with every right.

"So the party funds actually went to the Henderson & Field Corporation," Talbot recognized correctly. "I knew it! This dirty..." He said nothing more, but with a drawn smile, just shook his head. "And I had so much evidence..."

Slowly it dawned on me what, at their last encounter, Ritchcroft had shredded. No wonder Talbot was out of sorts with the man as much as I was.

"You cannot simply pull members of the Legion in front of a tribunal, Ben," Ritchcroft said in a soft voice, and both Talbot and I became aware that he was not just speaking of the Jeffersen case. "No one can do this. They know how to prevent it by whatever means."

"I would have continued on even without the evidence," the young lawyer growled. "They were just lucky that my investigations made the Senate nervous, because such a scandal would surely have drawn wide attention. Eventually my supervisor made sure that I put the case down and not your strange club."

The smile, Ritchcroft gave the young man was strange. "Of course. The question is, who pulled out the stop..."

His words put Talbot off his stride and it began to work visibly in his brain. He was smart enough to understand what Ritchcroft was telling him, but he didn't want to believe it, and searched his memories for some proof that Ritchcroft lied. So I took the opportunity to regain control of the conversation again.

"This whole Jeffersen story took place before you got the list, right?" I turned to the troubled lawyer who had crossed his arms tightly across his chest, he looked at Ritchcroft and I with a grim expression.

"That's right," Ritchcroft stepped in. He probably wanted bonus points from me. "In our need we decided to recruit Ben and piece by piece let him in on our work..."

The lawyer uttered a poisonous laugh. "In on your hunt for demons, yes?"

This time it was Ritchcroft, whose eyes gleamed with rage shortly. "This is so typical," he hissed, "... this arrogance of the ignorant ones..." He wanted to add something, but my piercing gaze hushed him just in time.

"Ignorant ones?" Talbot repeated amused and I tried quickly to silence him as well.

"You said you wanted to recruit him," I went on. "How did you intent to do that? With only this list of names?"

"No," Ritchcroft said, "at first we just supported him a bit in his work..."

"That ... that's not true," the lawyer exclaimed indignantly. All the allegations and new information were slowly but surely working his nerves.

"... in the form of anonymous tips," Ritchcroft explained unimpressed by Talbot's behavior, "the sending of material and important evidence for his pending cases…"

The young man shook his head in bewilderment. I could not really judge his gaze, his rapid pulse, and the palpable tension of his body. Either he was angry about the suppositions his opponent brought forward, or was afraid that we were getting to close to the truth.

"That's an absolute lie!" It finally burst out of him and he took a menacing step toward the much smaller man, so I was forced to place myself with the great reluctance in front of Ritchcroft, to protect him. How I would have loved to take him to task myself…

"Easy," I tried to make Talbot see reason and raised both hands warningly. "I'm a friend of _controlled_ violence, not of such emotional outbursts. There's no need for it, so back off, Talbot!"

"But this man is only trying to save his own skin," Ben spit out despite my words. "Don't you see that?"

"Then you've never accepted anonymous support on your cases?" I asked him directly.

Talbot clearly hesitated with his answer and looked aside for a moment. When he looked at me again, I knew he would tell me the truth. "Sometimes you depend on outside help to achieve the needed results for a case. I would be foolish not to investigate a tip further, if I stuck with my case otherwise."

"That's a clear 'yes' to me," I replied calmly. "Did you know where the tips came?"

"No!" Talbot uttered aggressively, he could not stand my haunting gaze, but stared furiously at Ritchcroft instead. "There is no deal between us!"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "I haven't come to that point yet. Have you received tips for your cases from the Legion?"

Talbot was too good an actor to give the outward impression of being caught, but his heart rate accelerated sharply. Very suspicious ...

"No one in our society gives, without taking," he replied grimly. "This dawned on me very early in my life and it's the reason I'm so cautious with anonymous help. I would never let myself in for a deal with these people."

"That means you've never done them even one small favor?"

For a split second his eyes moved up and to the right before they found mine - a sure sign that the moment of truth was over. "Exactly," he said, nevertheless with a surprisingly firm voice.

"Now _you_ are lying," Ritchcroft claimed with a slight smile. "There was one or the other favor."

"Which one?" the lawyer growled at him.

"That you got a certain file for us, for example."

The suppressed anger inside Talbot made the color in his face become a lot more intense. "I took this file to use it _myself_," he brought out in a trembling voice. "You and your criminal association stole it from me against my will!"

Ritchcroft let out an angry laugh. "Oh, no, no ... I won't accept that. You sent the file to one of my men!"

Talbot looked at the man openmouthed for a heartbeat. "This ... this is unbelievable! Are you really trying to save your skin, by denouncing me?"

"Wait… wait a moment!" I intervened quickly before the conversation went out of control again. "Are you talking about the file that Mick set up on Peterson and the sinister schemes of the Legion?"

Ritchcroft nodded, keeping his eyes glued to his opponent. Outwardly, he seemed to be the picture of calm, but my vampire instincts did not fail to notice that he was inwardly troubled at least as much as his counterpart.

"Who has the file now?" I asked.

"You," Ritchcroft replied unexpected and my eyebrows wandered towards each other in deep surprise.

"I?" I repeated in disbelief.

"It's in the briefcase I gave you."

I had already forgotten the leather case. At my arrival I had left it near the seating area where Max followed our conversation with interest, and it was still there – I registered with a casual glance.

"What a coincidence," Talbot commented with an affected laugh. "You're on the run from your own people and put, of all things, the very file Mr. Kostan needs the most, into the case..."

"I put in everything I could grab," Ritchcroft tried to explain as quickly as possible, but he could not prevent that I began to ponder. It was indeed a bit strange the man was so prepared for my needs. If he had fled as headless as he claimed, he would not have had the forethought to meet me with _these_ particular files.

"So what else is in your case?" Talbot asked meddlesome, putting my own thoughts into words. "I hope you didn't forget to bring something that would prove you have nothing more to do with the Legion and that you are not just a lure to lead your new friends into disaster..."

"Of course!" Ritchcroft gave back angrily. I waited anxiously to see what would happen now, but to my amazement the man gave no impression of wanting to add something further.

"And that would be?" I asked, somewhat irritated. "I hope it's more than just documents of your victims and research results that are long since outdated."

"No, I also have a few names," Ritchcroft hastened to say and I saw how the first fine drops of sweat formed on his forehead. "Of ... of Legion members..."

"Only names?"

"Also ... photos, résumés and addresses..."

Talbot shook his head almost amused. "And who's going to prove that these people indeed belong to your organization? You could have manipulated the pictures and names with ease. With today's technology anything is possible."

"I didn't," Ritchcroft snarled at the lawyer and his heart was now beating so quickly and wildly that I slowly began to get a little worried about the health of my guest. On the other hand, I had to prove Talbot right. Ritchcroft could tell us anything, there was no one to verify his statements, no one who had already looked into the Legion's face and had survived, and no one who was able to recognize people. No one but...

While Ritchcroft furiously tried to again defend himself against Talbot and I, my eyes wandered over to the screen. As expected, Peterson was still sitting in front of the web cam and followed our discussion with wide eyes.

I ditched the two squabblers, took two, three big steps toward the corner of the room, seized the briefcase and carried it over to Kurt. This action silenced Talbot and Ritchcroft immediately. "Is the information about the members of the Legion on a CD-Rom?" I asked without turning around and opened the briefcase. I heard a short cough and then a hesitant "Yes".

"And are there people among them who have worked in the labs?" My eyes scanned the contents of the briefcase and quickly caught two CDs that had been put in one of the front pockets. The rest of my senses focused on the people still behind me.

"A few," I heard Ritchcroft say close behind me and I felt him stepping beside me.

"Good," I simply said, pulled out one of the CDs and held it in front of his nose. "Is this the right one?"

Ritchcroft took a quick look at it and nodded.

"And what's the point of that?" Talbot appeared on my other side and watched me with evident disapproval handing Kurt the CD. He put it into the drive of his PC.

"Probably the faces of the people won't mean anything to me," I said with a smile, "but I know two people who can remember these faces. And one of them you have in front of you." I pointed at the professor, who looked at me as surprised as Talbot. I prayed inwardly that the other person who could identify the employees of the lab without any problems was far as possible beyond reach of Logan's basement at the moment.

"Peterson," Ritchcroft uttered with wide eyes and the professor gave him a restrained smile.

"Hello, Paul. It's a small world..."

* * *

Beth immediately understood what Josef meant by his words and knew what would follow. And just this knowledge, took her into a state which made it impossible for her to follow the conversation between Peterson and Ritchcroft. Her eyes flew up to Mick in deep concern, whose tension had increased to a degree that could not be healthy for him anymore. His cheek muscles twitched visibly beneath his pale skin. His eyes were fixated on the second monitor that Logan had turned to them a little while ago, so that they could participate in the events around Josef, without being noticed by Talbot.

Although Beth felt herself a strong need to participate, at least as a listener, she was less than enthusiastic about the monitor being turned to them, because it seduced Mick even more to remain in the cellar and suppress his own fears.

Some of Ritchcroft's statements had harassed him strongly by now, apart from the fact the sight of one of the men, who was responsible for his trauma, had caused a significant increase in his aggression. Because of that, he had more than once, had to turn away from the monitor and paced up and down in the background to take control of his raging emotions again. However, he lacked the urgent realization that he once again went beyond the limits of his own strength and that it would actually be better for his nerves, if he went upstairs into the living room again and rested. Beth had tried several times to convince him that they really did not need his help, but he had a different opinion and was as stubborn as ever.

"We're sending you the images and names of alleged members of the Legion one after the other," she could hear Josef say, interrupting the greeting between Peterson and Ritchcroft in a harsh tone. "I want you to look at them hard Frank, and tell us immediately if someone looks remotely familiar to you."

"Okay, but..." a slightly pained expression appeared on the professor's face, "... I have to warn you: I have a pretty bad memory for faces. I'm not such a visual type..."

The tense pause at the other end of the line let the following words appear as empty shells: "That doesn't matter." Josef needed a fresh start to not let his irritation come through that clearly. "Give it the best try you can, okay?"

Beth registered in disbelief that Peterson shot a questioning glance at Mick and her innards convulsed in the most unpleasant way, as Mick even nodded after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Then I'm ready," she could hear Peterson say, but her eyes remained glued to Mick's face.

"You… you don't need to do this," she whispered to him. That was just crazy! Mick was not in the constitution to be confronted with the images of his tormentors yet. His ordeal was still not long enough ago and could only lead to a collapse.

"I know," he replied quietly without taking his eyes off the monitor, on which the first photo already appeared. Fortunately he didn't seem to know the man on the picture, because his facial expression did not change.

Besides her concern, Beth felt anger start to bubble up inside her. How could he forget what they had just talked about so quickly? No one here wanted him to play the hero and to exhaust his own limits and she was sure that Josef wouldn't have initiated the whole action if he had known Mick was present.

"Well, then I will rephrase it," she growled at him. "You _should_ not do this!"

At least that got his attention, because he looked at her now and amazed her with the great concern written in his eyes.

"Beth, if the man who's with Josef is an active informer of the Legion, who's fabricating all this, then everyone in this quarter is in great danger, including us," he said tensely, while his eyes sought for the understanding in her eyes that he needed so much at this moment. "I _have_ to do that! It's the only way to find out whether the man is indeed willing to betray his own people."

She searched intently for arguments against his so-true words, but the attempt was hopeless. Of course this was a special situation that required an unusual occurrence.

"Is it not enough, for Peterson to do it?" she asked softly.

Mick only raised his eyebrows and nodded in the professor's direction.

"Stop, wait...," he murmured and scratched at his forehead nervously, while his eyes narrowed. "No... Or is it?" His eyes darted briefly to Mick, who threw a quick look at the next photo, which had appeared on the screen, and then shook his head.

"No, wait no.... I don't know him," Frank passed on to Josef and Beth closed her eyes resignedly. The professor had not lied when it came to his bad memory for faces. They needed Mick, and Beth caught herself wishing there was no one in the files Mick knew - even if that would mean that Ritchcroft was a lousy traitor.

Beth now directed her own attention to the changing images in front of her. Most men and women who appeared there looked so ordinary, so normal. It was hard to imagine, that they were capable of such cruel acts, torture and murder. The image of a further, very beautiful woman appeared and Beth felt immediately, that Mick braced next to her and looked at him quickly. He closed his eyes at the same moment and tried to calm his breath.

"Stop! This is Dr. Morton," Peterson blurted out nearly enthusiastically and a cold shiver ran down Beth's back. One of the doctors, to whose arbitrary treatment Mick had been exposed...

Mick opened his eyes again, but didn't turn his gaze back to the monitor. Instead he looked over to Peterson. Beth felt how it was rumbling about within him, felt the struggle of his different sides and was full of admiration as she found out that Mick kept the control over his emotions.

"Are you sure?" she could hear Josef ask.

"Yes, one hundred percent," Peterson replied in a firm voice. "She was responsible for the primary care of the vampires and had to keep them alive as long as possible. She was not a bad person ... but rather a mediocre person in the organization..."

"Then go on."

A new image appeared, and Mick looked back at the monitor. An unknown person, as was shown by his relaxing face. Two other unknowns followed, then a sharp jolt went through Mick's body.

The picture showed a young man with short, blond hair and soft facial features. He smiled, but his eyes were strangely expressionless, almost cold.

"Umm, maybe..." Peterson wondered aloud, and Beth was surprised that Mick didn't turn his eyes away this time, but was visibly shaken, staring at the picture and shaking his head.

"This..." He stopped and searched Peterson's gaze, who, in his own uncertainty, looked at him as well.

"He's dead," Mick whispered to him and surprised not only Beth, but also the professor.

"Are you sure?" Beth asked softly, and Mick looked at her and nodded. He was upset, but he had himself under control still. The discomfort and anger that had seized him at the sight of the woman was missing. And his next words revealed the reason.

"I killed him," he said with a cold in his voice that shook Beth. Quite vaguely, she remembered the dream she had had, shortly before Josef and she had left to search for Mick. If the dream had been real, Mick had been able to take revenge on more than just one person...

Peterson still stared thoughtfully at the picture before him, and then suddenly his eyes lit up. "Yes, of course! Jerry Coslow! One of Gallagher's henchmen," he called delighted, but instantly tried again for more discipline. "He's dead!"

"Dead?" Josef sounded alarmed. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

Josef inhaled so deeply that Beth could hear it through the loudspeaker. "Why the hell are you giving out names of people who either have nothing to contribute within the Legion or are already dead?" she heard him ask barely composed. It was a pity the monitor didn't show their images on the web cam. Beth would have been happy to see Ritchcroft's face.

"These... these are pure personal files," the man stammered, "I've not looked at them before!"

That was a good excuse, but Beth had doubts as to whether that was true. No one who had worked that long in such an organization, who had assumed its ideology, would carelessly take files and throw them before the enemy's feet without first looking at them thoroughly. There were definitely some people in his environment he did not want to betray...

For one moment there was silence on the other line, she heard Josef breathe in again. He had no choice but to believe the man for the moment.

"Let's go on," he urged all the others a bit grumpily and the next image appeared. A slightly plumper, bearded man with glasses.

"This is one of the night guards," Peterson knew and surprised them all. "Clarence White." The professor's memory of names was far better then his ability to recognize faces - although none of the names had been identical with the ones beneath the pictures.

Peterson looked over to Mick to obtain confirmation of his statement, but Mick only shrugged his shoulders. Apparently he had never seen the man. Unfortunately, this was no longer the case with the photo of the next person. Beth noticed how Mick's upper body almost reflexively moved away from the screen and he inhaled sharply. The fear and anger in his eyes was back and, as before with the woman, he turned away from the monitor, sought Peterson's gaze who at once looked at him, and nodded to the professor.

The professor leaned closer to the screen and squinted his eyes, rummaging in his memory for a name. "Yes ... yes, he was always at Gallagher's side. His right hand man."

"And?" Josef asked impatiently. "Is he still alive?"

"No idea," said Frank. "If the Legion did not get their hands on him, he still clings to Gallagher's coattail ... Elias Walker - that was his name!"

"And who's this Gallagher?" Josef asked the question that was also on the tip of Beth's tongue, and Mick's nervousness increased significantly. He ran a hand over his mouth and took a few steps to the back part of the basement, only to stop there undecided.

"He was the executive director of the.... project," Peterson explained restrained as Beth walked to Mick full of sorrow, who now had visible problems to getting his nerves back under control.

"I don't know if that was his real name. I only know that he studied medicine and worked at some point in the research, until he joined the Legion. He worked himself in the laboratories and has done some things that…" Peterson became silent with the terrible memories that seemed to affect him. "If you ask me, he's an outright sadist," he went on quietly and with a trembling voice, "and he hates va... people like you with a passion."

Beth only listened with half an ear. Her full attention was on Mick, who had now considerably more problems regulating his breathing and to not let out his violent emotions. She didn't want to know what this terrible man had done to Mick, if the mere mention of his name upset him so much. She laid a hand on his arm sympathetically, thus gaining back his attention. It was hard for him to look at her, but he did. "Let's go upstairs, Mick," she whispered urgently. "Please! You have helped enough here. You must think of yourself now."

He vehemently shook his head and straightened himself again, squared his shoulders. "I ... I can handle this," he uttered not really convincingly, because his voice trembled slightly, just like the hand he ran across his face once again, as if this gesture could indeed eliminate his burdensome feelings.

"Mick, that's really..." Her own anger left her speechless because Mick in fact pushed past her and approached the screen again to look at the next face shown there. For a moment Beth stayed where she was, caught in her own disbelieving speechlessness, then she shook her head and approached the monitor again. A hollow feeling deep inside her told her that the point, in which Mick lost control of his nerves, would soon be reached. Even if he adhered to the thought that he could withstand the whole thing, she felt the emotional pressure that he was now under, and that forced control was doing him anything but good. It only needed a straw to break the camel's back - only a tiny straw ...

And it arrived, immediately and mercilessly. Indeed it was no single straw, but a whole bale of straw, which fell down on Mick. Everything happened within seconds, but Beth had the feeling it was happening in slow motion. The face of a man in his forties appeared. He had hard, piercing blue eyes under slanted dark eyebrows, dark hair, thin lips, and a thin mustache. Beth did not know why, but she winced at the sight of him, as if an electric shock had just hit her, and her eyes flew over to Mick. He was frozen at her side and not able to breathe, while his eyes clung shocked to the image that had revealed itself to him so unprepared. But his gaze was oddly spaced out... A light twitching, not noticeable to the others, went through his body and in the same moment the man's face appeared oversized in front of Beth's inner eye too... The man bent over her, reached out a hand for her face and she winced herself.

She heard Mick breathing in haltingly as if he was miles away and the next picture fragments that passed through her mind in quick succession took her breath away: This man grabbing her and ramming a needle into her arm, strangling her while she was chained to a bed; he had a device in his hand that was pressed to her chest and the next moment drove an electric shock through her body, which made her heartbeat stop... Beth staggered backwards against the cellar wall, gasping for breath. The flood of images faded. She perceived that Mick was moving away from the monitor, gasping, as he would suffocate at any moment and she wanted to move to him, help him, but her legs were so wobbly, that they simply wouldn't obey the commands of her mind. She was moving too slow. Even from the distance she had to Mick she could see that his eyes changed their color, changed rapidly into the white-blue everyone here feared so much. Nevertheless, she stumbled forward, towards him. Mick was still struggling with himself. She could see that. Still, not all was lost. The transformation was not complete yet, although Logan and Peterson already jumped up from their chairs in a panic.

Mick moved further backwards to the door of the cellar. The strenuous attempt to drive back the vampire and simultaneously cope with his terrible memories, seemed take all his strength away. He faltered and doubled up, still sucking the thick air of the cellar into his lungs as if it was the most invigorating, most pure oxygen.

"Mick...," Beth addressed him softly, and stretched out a hand to him in the hope that she could better calm him down that way. But the opposite was the case. She heard a menacing growl, looked for a split second into a pair of icy blue eyes and the next moment he was gone. He had moved so quickly that she had not even been able to capture his movements with her eyes. For an instant she just stood there stunned, then she as well stormed through the open cellar door. She suddenly knew exactly what he would do to fight the vampire. The sun was only a friend of the humans.

Beth's heart was beating fast and hard in her chest, while her feet were flying over the steps. The top door was open and she could already see from the hallway the same was true for the front door. Pure fear seized her. The Legion had changed Mick's vampire genetic - what if he, in his vampire state, tolerated sunlight now much worse than a normal average vampire? What if it indeed killed him? Beth's guts knotted spasmodically and she felt the urgent need to scream to let her panic out. She overcame the distance to the front door in record time and rushed onto the porch. Mick was in fact out there. He stumbled toward the small group of trees that grew not far from the house, tripped and fell into the dust. Beth did not use the few steps of the porch. She simply jumped across them and sprinted off. The gap to Mick was shrinking rapidly, as he now seemed to have problems getting to his feet on his own. Either the effect of the sun on his vampire side was huge, or even the vampire in Mick had problems handling his violent reaction to the horrific images of his memories.

"Mick!" Beth uttered with a broken voice, as she finally reached him and fell onto her knees in front of him. He jerked back from her, turned his face away and raised his hand.

"Go… away...," he gasped feebly. His eyes were closed and prevented her from seeing which state he was in now. He was so terribly pale...

But she didn't let him push her away, just touched his shoulder and reached out her other hand for his face to turn him around. Mick winced again, but he had, for whatever reason, not the strength to struggle against the gentle pressure she exerted on him. Beth's heart took a small leap when she noticed that his skin was cool now and as he raised his eyes and looked at her she knew that his human side had finally lost the fight for that moment. The transformation was complete. It was the vampire who looked up at her, weakened by the rays of the sun; an emotionally troubled vampire, but still an extremely dangerous creature.

Beth saw from the corner of her eye, that two other figures had appeared on the veranda, but only one dared to continue walking towards them. She raised a hand to stop him without removing her eyes from Mick's face, and the person, she thought it was the professor, indeed stopped immediately.

"Go… away...," Mick repeated his demand with great effort and her heart made a new leap. But this time it was a delighted one, because she realized in this moment that it was the vampire who was speaking with her - he was speaking for the first time and he ... he was clearly concerned about her. This she could see even through the cold of his white eyes.

A warm feeling of affection flooded through her chest and she could not stop her lips curling up into a tender smile. She put her other hand to his cheek, stroking his cool skin with her thumbs, and whispered a barely audible "No".

Mick closed his eyes again and his eyebrows contracted with effort. "I... I don't want to harm you... don't want to, Beth," it came out off his throat breathlessly and Beth leaned forward and pressed her lips to his forehead, to his nose and finally to his half-open mouth. Mick's eyelids flew open again, and his bright, cold eyes gave her a deeply confused look.

"I know," she whispered with a gentle smile and caressed his cheeks. "You won't, Mick." She tried to lay all the confidence she had into her voice, put her arms around his neck and pulled him into an intimate embrace. She was convinced that she could give him the strength he needed to turn back. And she trusted him, no matter what state he was in. May be it was stupid and dangerous, but she loved him too much to be afraid of him.

A slight tremor went through Mick's body. She felt his cool breath on her neck, his nose, which pressed into her hair, and his arms, which wrapped at first a bit hesitantly but then with a growing need around her body and pulled her closer to his body. His lips were close to her ear, slid down her neck only millimeters above her skin until his face came to rest in the hollow between her neck and shoulder and he inhaled and exhaled deeply. For a tiny moment, Beth felt a slight discomfort creeping up in her, for she was only too clearly aware how big the temptation had to be for him to easily sink his teeth into her skin. But her trust in Mick had grown so much in the last few days that this feeling could not develop into a real fear. She was so sure that his sensitive, her constantly protecting side could also be found inside the vampire and his reactions to her touch, the minutes that passed without anything happening proved this as well. His breathing was indeed still rapid and too irregular, but... didn't he slowly became warmer or was it just her imagination? No... he became distinctly warmer. Beth's stomach made a small somersault. It worked. She hadn't been wrong about Mick. Even the vampire in him was no longer an uncontrolled, raging beast. And the vampire knew when he could leave again, had understood that he was not needed if she was at his side.

After a few more minutes, which seemed to pass by quickly, Mick moved again. He slowly raised his head, searched the warm gaze of her eyes and finally leaned his forehead against hers, exhaling heavily. His iris had now the color of bright jade and testified what she had long felt: The vampire had gone voluntarily - without a fight, without injections and medications. Beth gently stroked his neck and noticed how he immediately closed his eyes under her touch, exhausted. This all had cost him so much strength, so many nerves ... Had it really been that necessary?

"Mick?" she whispered softly.

"Um-um," he gave back faintly not even lifting the eyelids.

"Next time listen to me and don't expose yourself to such efforts, okay?"

For a while there was no answer, but then he managed a slight nod. Beth knew that this was only a halfhearted, little serious promise, but it was enough for now. She would talk with him about this another time. She was just happy for that moment that they had overcome the first crisis that well.


	42. New trouble

_*__So… after the very long chapter now a shorter one. I thank you so, so much for the many reviews I got! You're just great and my muse is now so active that I had to write down a few scenes of Blood of the Lily which are coming much later in the story. Wish I had more time to write and also to translate. Thanks for that great support! And thanks to SG6169 again for beta reading this chapter again. See you all at Thursday again and wish you a great Sunday! Jenna*_

* * *

**New trouble**

"And he hasn't bitten or injured anyone?"

"No, fortunately not. He just stormed up the stairs and out of the house. Beth was faster than us. When we arrived out there, she already had him in her arms and everything was over."

I closed my eyes in relief and sucked the musty air of the cellar deeply into my lungs, for in the last few minutes I had denied this organ its share of oxygen much too often. That was the best news I had heard in the last twenty four hours. Especially after all the catastrophic events that had already taken place, I never would have counted on it. I had really thought about flying back to Mexico on the spot, with Talbot and Ritchcroft bound and gagged in tow. Now, this source of fire had been doused by itself - or rather by Beth's astonishing empathy and deep love for my poor, stricken friend.

"Where is he now?" I asked Logan to continue with his report.

The young vampire seemed to be somewhat overwhelmed with the question, because he just shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "No idea. I went back to the basement again when I saw that my help wasn't needed..." Something in the background, which escaped the camera, led him to turn around sharply. "There's Frank...," he told me over his shoulder and stood up. The professor stepped in front of the camera and sat down at the place Logan had cleared for him. On the one hand he looked relieved, but on the other quite exhausted. The rapid alternation of different emotions could sometimes take quite a toll on you.

"That was ...," he began hesitantly, but then, because of a lack of words, slouched his narrow shoulders with a small sigh and shook his head.

"… close... and that's an understatement," I replied a bit grumpily, for his reappearance reminded me of all the faux pas he had made during our little conference and that I still had to smooth away.

Peterson was not able to hold my gaze. He was well aware that I was far from satisfied with his performance. But at least he had the courage to deliver himself up to me although he mainly wanted to inform me about Mick.

"Where are Ritchcroft and Talbot?" he asked me, carefully lifting his gaze.

"In their rooms. And I think, after all that's happened they will have many questions for me. Tough questions."

A deeply repentant expression appeared on the professor's face. "I'm really, _really_ sorry, Josef! In... in my zeal I simply forgot that there were two other listeners and of course I should have warned you that Mick was with us and listened as well. But without him I probably wouldn't have recognized so many people..."

"Never mind!" I stopped his desperate groveling in a stern voice. "We can't undo it anyway. We need to straighten this whole mess out so we don't have to carry away too much damage. I'll take care of my guests as well as possible, and you take care to ensure that Mick is recovering from his collapse."

Peterson nodded overzealously. "Of course, he's indeed much better now. We brought him to his room because he was pretty exhausted. Beth is staying with him until he falls asleep, and I think if he's able to sleep through the night he will be well again tomorrow."

"Beth is alone with him?" I really did not like this idea, even though I knew she had Mick under control better than any one else. My friend was still a vampire with a strong need for human blood and since his new start on life, he had certainly provided some unpleasant surprises. Also Beth Turner could be wrong with her estimations and in her case such a misjudgment could even cost her, her life.

"You don't need to worry," Frank said softly and gave me a noncommittal smile. "I've given Mick an adequate amount of blood and he at last showed such a faint impression that he is surely no danger to her. Not today."

After a brief, thoughtful moment of silence I deigned to nod slightly. "Good," I added to this gesture. "Is Logan still nearby?"

Actually it was a totally useless question, because our little vampire-hacker for sure had not left his beloved PC alone with a layman like Peterson. As expected his curly head moved immediately in front of the lens of the camera and he questioningly raised his eyebrows. "Yes?"

"Kurt is going to send you over the bulk of the material that we've received from Ritchcroft, and I want you to analyze it as soon as possible. Who knows how soon the information will become worthless. The Legion can certainly imagine that their man hasn't disappeared from the scene without a guarantee."

Logan seemed to have no objections. Since he had made himself the head of the operation _Eagle Eye_ with my consent, he was as cooperative as never before.

"And Logan ...," I continued, "find out everything you can about this Gallagher. I want him here, in front of me - quickly and as alive as possible!"

"Can do!" he answered almost energetically. "When are you coming back?"

This was in fact a really good question. If it had been up to me, I would have immediately jumped into the helicopter, but I had to hold a couple of very important talks, had to organize things and who knew what would still happen. So I lifted my shoulders a bit hesitantly. "I don't know yet," I had to admit. "But I hope to be back by tomorrow evening – at the latest."

"Okay," Logan replied in a tone as if I would indeed need his approval for this plan and I frowned slightly consternated. "I'll keep my fingers crossed that you're able to settle the whole thing with Talbot and Ritchcroft in peace," he just had to remind me of my little problem and I uttered a disapproving sound.

"Yes, I hope that as well," I muttered and stood up. I nodded at Kurt, who had been sitting next to me the whole time, and he took my place. I could hear him greeting Logan and then immediately changing into the technical language of the multimedia world, but I didn't really care about that any longer. My own thoughts were moving along with my body, straight towards the first of my two problems: Talbot.

Peterson's and Logan's reactions to Mick's transformation had of course not gone unnoticed. How could it? They had jumped up in horror and then had disappeared from the scene. I myself had only needed a few seconds to figure out this reaction, along with Peterson's behavior during the inspection of the personal files, but I could not judge Talbot's nor Ritchcroft's perception skills.

Ritchcroft had immediately bombarded me with excited questions, questions I had given no answers to, but he had not given the impression that he had linked Mick to the reactions of my friends. Talbot, however, had lapsed into thoughtful silence. This behavior scared me much more than my other guest. I had told Vincent and Max to bring them back to their rooms to prevent them from getting any further impressions of things they were not allowed to know. Now it was time to find out how much they knew and what I should do with them. At least as far as Talbot was concerned, I had to come up with something other than eliminating him in case of an emergency, because I for sure didn't want to mess with the Supreme Court.

Vincent, who was keeping guard in front of Talbot's 'Luxury Suite', met me immediately with a questioning glance. "And? Has everyone calmed down again?"

I just nodded and signaled him with a brief response that I had no time to talk with him about the whole mess. He seemed to understand, for he asked no more questions, and I could turn to the locked door of the room and could inwardly brace myself for the certainly very stressful conversation awaiting me. I briefly slackened my shoulders and inhaled deeply. Then I opened the door and entered.

Talbot had been sitting on the small couch in his room and immediately got up giving me an eager look. For a moment I did not know what to say, and that surprised even me. Such things happened to me very, very rarely. But Talbot remained silent and waited. I tried with all my senses to get what stirred him inwardly at the moment, but all I came up with was that he was a little tense and excited.

"I've thought a bit...," Talbot finally managed to start the conversation after a few more agonizing seconds of grueling silence between us. "And I... I have decided to offer you a deal - despite the circumstances under which I have come here and your not-too-cooperative attitude during this strange conversation..."

"Have you?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in mocked haughtiness, crossing my arms over my chest. It was hard not to let him see that his offer and his sudden willingness to cooperate puzzled me hugely. I hadn't planned on that.

The corners of Talbot's mouth lifted up slightly. "Yeah. I can hardly believe it myself, but I think we have some common interests in terms of this… _Legion_." The voicing of this name still caused him some difficulties. "And I also think for that reason it would be strategically wise to cooperate in some way."

"In which way?" I asked suspiciously. "And what common interests are you talking about?"

"Can't you figure that out for yourself?" he passed back the question.

I tilted my head a bit and looked at the smooth, handsome face of the man in front of me. He was a cool, calculating guy, but he also had a sure feeling for what was right and wrong and a high attitude to morality. It was no wonder that he didn't like the operations of the Legion.

"Do you really want to mess with this organization?" I avoided answering his question by posing a new one.

"I've already started a few months ago," he replied calmly. "Or do you seriously believe that I would let them use me as some sort of a puppet? I'll blow these people's cover, even if it takes years and all my strength. Nobody plays in my district the executive power, and thinks he can stay hidden from law. Nobody."

"And since you and Mick and all of your other friends apparently are the victims of this power and are directly threatened by these people, I would think you have a similar concern."

'Similar' here was a well-chosen word, because Talbot for sure was not planning to hunt down this bunch and then kill them very slowly and in the most painful way. "And the deal between us would be...?" I raised my brows emphatically.

"A regular exchange of information on the actual state of affairs," said Talbot promptly.

"Regarding what?"

"The Legion and everything that happens around them."

I knitted my brows in deep thoughtfulness. "That's all?"

"Concerning _this_ deal... yeah." The strange emphasis of his words was too distinct to miss hearing it.

"You want another one?" I asked bluntly.

Another smile flashed over Talbot's face. "Well, you've kidnapped me, Kostan. That's a crime of significant gravity, which I actually should prosecute, regardless of whether you had a choice or not..."

He let me take in his words a bit, but I reacted to his provocation with a composure that I myself would have hardly trusted me to have in this situation. I simply smiled gently and raised my brows encouragingly. "Does the deal now come?"

"Exactly," Talbot smiled back. "You'll promise me to organize a private conversation with Mick and I'll act as if this had just been a practical joke of my former fellow students."

I had almost expected something like that. Talbot had been just too cooperative in the last minutes and of course he had given thought to the latest incident.

"I know that Mick was there with Beth and this Peterson," he added. "He has seen the pictures of these people and must have reacted quite violently to them. I think this is the only explanation for Peterson's and that other guy's behavior."

He studied my face carefully while speaking and I really had to restrain myself to keep my sober posture. However, I was still tongue-tied.

"And I know you won't give me any answers to the questions I have about Mick," Talbot went on. "And that's your right. No one can force you to betray your friend. But perhaps Mick himself would be willing to fill in my lack of information a bit. Feel free to choose the time and place for this meeting - but I want to see him in person, not via an Internet connection or the like. I won't bring anyone with me and I'm also not intending to lure him into a trap. As I said, I only want to talk and as soon as possible!"

"And if you don't get the desired information?" I finally managed to ask. It probably made no sense anymore to pretend as if Mick was seriously ill in bed and was not responsive.

Ben shrugged. "Then it's hard luck for me, I think ..."

I looked at him for a long moment, struggling against my own distrust for this man. "I can't decide this so easily for Mick," I said. "I must speak with him first."

"Then do that," Talbot demanded. "I can wait."

A silent laugh escaped my throat. "Until tomorrow?"

My question rattled him a little bit. He frowned confused. "Does that mean that you cannot talk to him today?"

I just smiled approvingly and Talbot dropped his gaze. He broodingly scratched his brow, and then agreed to his own thoughts with a slight nod. "Well, then contact me again when you have his answer," he said. "I can't stay missing much longer, or you'll soon be in trouble over your head, believe me."

I repeated his nod and took a deep breath. I had no choice other than to trust this man and release him. If he hadn't just blown smoke up our butts and really sided with us, we had won an ally whose power one should not underestimate. Even though, only the talk with Mick, would probably seal this alliance.

"I'll… send you with a couple of men who will take you home," I said and turned to the door.

"Kostan," his voice held me back once more and I gave him a quizzical glance.

"Don't trust Ritchcroft," he said softly and looked at me intently. "Even if he _can_ give you some important information – I get the feeling that he deals in an underhanded manner."

I looked at him muted for a long moment, then I nodded again and left the room without another word. I was surprised, to find not only Vincent but also Max and Guillermo outside the room. My friends looked slightly contrite and I could not figure out if this was due to the fact that they might have eavesdropped on my conversation with Talbot, or if another problem had brought them to me.

"When exactly did you want to fly back to... well, you know where?" the young Mexican addressed me. That he did not mention the place of our hideout made me feel somewhat uneasy.

"Why?" I asked right back.

Guillermo hemmed and hawed a bit. "Because... there's someone who has an urgent request of you ..." His gaze wandered to the locked door and with a nod towards the corridor made it quite clear to me that he wanted me to follow him.

"Thomas is here," Max cut right to the chase as we had only moved a few steps away from Talbot's door.

"_The_ Thomas?" I could not hide the fact that I was surprised because it had shown only too clearly on my face. Thomas was one of the Elders of the Vampire Council in the States and one of the few vampires, which I would call a friend. We had met in 1870 during the foundation ceremony of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company and had noticed that we had besides a very remarkable business cunning also some overlaps in our attitude to life. I hadn't seen him for a long time now. The idea that he would be here at this moment seemed so absurd to me that I stopped dead and the persistent curse of speechlessness hit me again with full force.

"Seems as if the new incidents are attracting increasing attention in LA," now added Max. "I don't know exactly how he came by the information that you're here, but he urgently wants to see you."

"I've told you how upset the vampire world is at the moment," Guillermo added almost accusingly. "They simply need answers to the many questions they have..."

"Yeah, yeah, all right." I raised a hand to stop them and turned to Max. "Where is he now?"

"In the conference room."

I nodded thoughtfully. "Can you instruct someone to drive Talbot home?"

Max could not hide his astonishment. "You want to let him go?"

"We have no other choice," I replied emphatically. "He offered me a deal, I will accept - so we can soon count him among our allies."

The disapproval and unease in Max's face was unmistakable. My words did not seem to please him and Guillermo also looked at me alarmed.

"But... does he know what we are?" the Mexican asked. "Didn't he notice all of the professor's slips?"

"I don't know for sure," I had to admit grudgingly, "but I figure as much. He didn't say anything about this. I think he'll file it in the same drawer as the matter with the demons - as the sick fantasy of some lunatics."

I was good. I almost bought this assertion of myself. Though it was quite clear to me that this topic was for sure not finished off for Talbot, although he would certainly not tell anyone about it. An ADA could not afford to tell the public stories about demons and vampires. This would signify the end of his career or even cause a referral to the nuthouse. No, Talbot would probably deal with this topic in another way and because of this he would certainly be a risk for us despite his new role as an ally. But if he wanted to leave the building safely and unharmed, at least all the other vampires here had to believe that he was no danger for them.

"And why does he want to work with us?" Max probed warily.

"Because he needs us to disempower the Legion," I explained calmly, "and we can also make good use of him, Max. He has influences and relationships that could prove to be very useful for us. Not to mention the fact that it's a pretty good idea to fight the Legion from all sides."

Max looked at me in silence for a moment, then he nodded understandingly. "You're the oldest of us," he noted dispassionately. "You know what you're doing."

I lifted the corners of my mouth, smiling mildly. "Then please make sure that he reaches his home safely and as soon as possible," I repeated my request and this time Max really began to move and walked down the hall in the other direction.

I felt that Guillermo was still looking at me and I turned to him, frowning. "What?" I asked slightly irritated.

"I just wondered if you were really serious just now," Guillermo replied, unimpressed by my tone of voice. "I mean, the things you've said about Talbot, that he'll simply push the topic of vampires aside, rejecting it as nonsense…"

"He's a rational man, why should he believe in such things as vampires?" I responded nonchalantly and continued on my way to the conference room. Of course I couldn't get rid of Guillermo so easily.

"Believe maybe not," he said, following me, "but that doesn't mean that he'll not look into the matter – maybe just to prove to himself that the myths about vampires are in fact only myths which have nothing to do with reality."

I clenched my teeth and shook my head, annoyed. "Please believe me that Talbot is not a problem for us at the moment," I demanded a bit testy.

"And what about this Ritchcroft?"

I uttered an unnerved groan. "I'll see to it as well, okay?" We had now reached the open door to our goal and I didn't wait for his answer, but simply walked into the room to finally get rid of him and his annoying questions.

You couldn't overlook Thomas. He was a tall, impressive man, with a clear-cut but yet somehow soft face and dark inscrutable eyes in which appeared a joyful glow when he felt my presence and turned to me. The smile appearing on his thin lips was genuine and corresponded to the expression in his eyes. He had talked to Kurt just now, politely excused himself, and walked up to me.

"Josef," he greeted me with great favor despite the tense situation he currently must have been in as well. We had always been on very good terms and had kept in touch for many years to continue our intensive discussions about life and the world. In the last twenty years, however, the contact had somehow died down.

"Thomas," I replied also smiling, and took the offered hand almost too enthusiastically, lusting for his open sympathy. Apparently, the mental stress of the last few hours was slowly boiling me until soft. This urgently needed to stop! "It's been a long time," I added. "I thought you wanted to bow out of vampire society for a while to try to find yourself again..."

Thomas laughed somewhat ruefully. "That was the idea. But the events of the last few days have unfortunately put a spoke in my wheel. Some of the younger vampires here in LA are about to lose their minds and have now managed to drive even Elizabeth and Anthony mad. And since they think I have a good rapport with you..." He raised his shoulders in a gesture of apology and I uttered a frustrated sigh.

"So I'm the one who's to blame for the interruption of your meditative self-discovery-trip," I concluded, my choice of words urging Thomas to smirk.

"Admittedly more through a few detours, but ... yeah, that's about right..."

"And what exactly is your mission now?" I asked immediately, for despite the joy about our reunion I didn't feel like beating about the bush for a long time. "Dragging me to the council and forcing me to take a stand on all the tragedies happening around us?"

His smirk became an appreciative smile. "Your sharp mind has always been something that's fascinated me beyond belief," Thomas replied and in doing so already answered my question.

Although I would have liked to remain calm, I couldn't do it. My intestines convulsed unstoppable and caused a slight sick feeling in my stomach. The fact that I too was a member of the Grand Council, didn't shield me from also being accountable to them. And I knew that the Council rarely held meetings - only if an immediate crisis was in store, which could affect the whole vampire society.

"Basically, it's not the whole Council, that wants to see you," Thomas went on and took a big part of the burden off my shoulders again, "but only two of its members and the other vampires who are directly affected by the riots in LA."

"The Council has not met for over a hundred years," I replied. "And that, although there had been one or the other crisis time and again - even with the Legion. What's the point of that now? Why do all people suddenly run amok and think they must intervene everywhere?"

"Well, according to my sources, the events surrounding you and your friend have even caused that _He_ has come out of the woodwork and intends to come to LA. That makes them nervous. The Council has always been allowed to take care of the problems in the States on its own, no matter how big they were - the Europeans had stayed out of this. Although _He_ had wanted to be informed of every step, _He_ had never felt motivated to come here. His personal involvement is interpreted as a sign that a very problematic time is coming our way. And since you yourself have asked for the support and help of your powerful friends in California... apparently you as well are very worried ... "

"But I would never have asked the Council to help me in this affair - at least not in its role as an official authority."

"Nor do Anthony and Elizabeth want this," Thomas tried to soothe me, because he seemed to feel exactly that my nerves weren't the best anymore. "That's why they want to talk to you, before this great meeting takes place. They want to give you the chance to explain your behavior to all persons concerned, to calm them down and make them realize that they still can rely on you, that you're turning an ear to their fears and problems and that you won't let them down if there is indeed a war with the Legion in the end. They just feel very forsaken at the moment..."

I tried to breathe deeply and quietly and closed my eyes for a few seconds. Slowly, this was all getting to be too much for me. Too much stress, too much responsibility, too many fears. I felt so drained and exhausted that I didn't even have the strength to shake up my usual sarcasm. Even the rearing up of my reluctance was unsuccessful.

"When is this supposed to take place?" I asked instead tiredly. I urgently needed a break after all these physical and mental exertions. Even my almost completely healed arm began to hurt again with this burden.

"In two days," Thomas replied with a hint of pity in his voice. "I will send you the time and meeting place shortly ..."

"I'll be there," I promised weakly and in doing so made Thomas smile. He looked relieved, as if he had expected to meet with a refusal. Certainly, he would have been prepared for this and I wondered if the pressure of the others would have been enough for him to get me by force to face up to the other vampires.

"I'm very glad," he said, and I felt that he was serious with every word. "Then... I'll break this positive news to the others." He put a hand on my shoulder and for a long moment looked at me gratefully. He nodded to me briefly, turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

My lungs called again for a heavy intake of not very rich oxygen, which I conceded willingly to it. Then I turned around to Kurt who had been following the whole conversation, and now looked at me with a compassionate facial expression.

"Tell me you've got a well working freezer here that's not currently being used," I demanded of him and the smile appearing on his lips, gave me a bit hope that I indeed had a reasonable chance to at least rest for a few hours and recover. And then I would simply go home for the next two days... home ... It was weird how closely this word was linked with the people you had locked in your heart so deeply, for at the moment my home was somehow in Mexico...


	43. Temptation

_*__Hi, my dears! Next chapter is ready! It's a bit longer again and you get a bit more of Mick and Beth this time… you'll see… (Jenna grins) Hope you'll like it and leave a comment for me. Loved the last ones so much and always need more. This time I have to thank Jo for the beta reading again – really great job! So and now I'll leave you all alone and hope to get something to read as well. See you at Sunday, Jenna*_

* * *

**T****emptation **

* * *

_"Temptations are vagabonds, if they are treated kindly, they'll come back and bring others along." _

_Mark Twain _

* * *

The first thing she felt was this gentle tickling on her neck, a slight warm whiff blowing in a very regular rhythm over her sensitive skin. Then she became aware of the warmth she was almost completely wrapped in and that familiar, wonderful scent that went along with it. She sucked the scent deeply into her nose, taking it in, assigning it to all the wonderful memories that slumbered so deeply inside her, memories that were closely connected with Mick. From the first time he had carried her through the dark night, protecting her from the cruelty of the world to their reunion and their first tender approaches, the first hugs and kisses to their night of love which seemed to be so amazingly long ago. And even after the long painful year of separation his scent, this typical and for her so attractive Mick-scent had remained the same. Even now it still went along with all their new shared experiences despite all the changes he had gone through.

Beth now lifted her eyelids and blinked cautiously into the still dim room she was in. No, it was not her room. The furniture here was not much newer or even better than the one that decorated her room, but it was quite different. And the bed she was lying in was much larger and most of all more comfortable.

Her mind began to stir bringing back the night's events in a fast picture sequence: Mick repeatedly waking with his face distorted by fear, despair in his eyes and his trembling body bathed in sweat.

After this exhausting night with this anxiety and turmoil she began to understand why Mick had previously always asked Peterson to give him a light sedative before he went to bed. Even her presence had not prevented the nightmares although she had succeeded again and again in getting him to calm down pretty fast. But it had been terribly nerve-racking and exhausting, even for her. She didn't really want to think about what Mick would have to go through night after night from now on if he really did not take sleeping pills any longer.

Now he was quite calm, breathing deeply and evenly. Only now did it sink in to her that it was his body that warmed her so well, clinging to her lengthwise from behind. He had his right arm wrapped tightly around her waist while the other one was hidden under the pillow on which her head rested. And it was his breath that tickled her neck. She could not see his face but she felt his nose against her ear and his stubbly chin against her neck which felt as close to her as the rest of his body.

It was such an incredible feeling to wake up in his arms that for a moment Beth could only lay there motionless and almost reverently. She was savoring this feeling with all of her senses, listening to his breathing, feeling his closeness as she let her eyes roam over his arms and hands which enclosed her body so protectively. At the same time she felt her throat choke a bit and a treacherous burning sensation rising into her nose and eyes which she tried to fight with all her might. She would not start to cry now just because something had happened here that she had always dreamt of but never thought would come true. Falling asleep with Mick and waking up with him without one of them feeling uncomfortable had been something she had actually given up on long ago because of his vampire existence. A freezer was not necessarily the right place to sleep in for a human like her and a warm bed wasn't really that healthy for a vampire. In addition, vampires had very different sleeping and waking times from humans and although Mick had been able to adjust his waking phases to a human rhythm from time to time, his need for sleep and his sleeping behavior had been completely distinct from hers. And now... now suddenly everything was different.

Then there was this feeling in her subconscious mind which still didn't let her quite believe that she had Mick back in her arms again, that he was alive and was with her, that she could touch and feel him; a feeling she had always pushed away until now because she knew it would cause some very strong emotional reactions on her part.

It was only eleven days that these terrible events were dated back. Eleven days ago she had thought she'd lost him forever and she had become aware that a life without this man was only a half life. She had never been more aware of her feelings for Mick as at that terrible moment and that clarity had not left her to this day. She was also sure that this would never happen again as Mick was her other half, the kindred spirit who completed her. He was the love of her life with whom she could even lose her fear of eternity. She wanted to live her life with him, forever, and she would love nothing better than to wake up in his arms every morning.

She swallowed the lump in her throat with all her might and blinked the tears away that had filled her eyes against her will.

'Enjoy the moment, Turner, and don't be so unreasonably melancholic," she commanded herself and that produced a small, almost happy smile. 'Think of something else, of all the positive developments of the recent days.'

Actually, she could be really proud of herself. With her assistance Mick had started to fight again, to try to find his way back to life. Except for the collapse the day before and these dreams in the night there had in fact not been any further relapses even though Josef hadn't been around for quite a while. Of course, it was these incidents that had also shown that Mick sometimes demanded a bit too much of himself and that the repression of the events of the last year was not necessarily the most optimal way to handle his trauma. But there was definitely forward progress.

If she thought about it more exactly, even his last transformation and everything associated with it proved that he could control himself very well and had brought a positive change in his behavior. This night there had not been a single moment in which Mick had tried to protect her from himself and push her away. On the contrary, he had done what she had wanted all along: he had used her strength, her ease and confidence to push the horrible images of his nightmares away and to get his turbulent emotions under control enough that he did not need to transform. Twice his eyes had become light, but in her arms, under her tender touches and gently whispered words, Mick had calmed down so quickly that he had no longer needed the vampire to feel safe and protected. He began to accept her help, to take the hand she offered him to help him step out of his own dark shadow. He was learning to control the vampire within him and due to her trust in him he began to overcome his fear of himself. If he then eventually also accepted the vampire as a part of himself there was hardly anything blocking his path to a complete recovery.

'Come on again, Turner!' she rebuked herself. 'Mick still has to digest a trauma which has no equal. Don't get too optimistic! There will be a lot of problems and crises, before he will be able to return to a normal rhythm of life.'

Sometimes her reason was really a terrible pain in the neck even when it was right. She could not yet allow herself to become absorbed in a reverie about a rosy future with the man she loved. Relationships by themselves were already connected to a lot of work and difficulty. A relationship with a traumatized half-vampire would have to overcome quite different cliffs and barriers no matter how strong their love for each other was. There would certainly be very stressful, emotional times approaching them. The more Mick repressed his trauma, the harder and more painful these times would be for her too. Those who were forced to digest such experiences, such images and feelings, sometimes needed an outlet in order to not suffer a complete breakdown.

Beth could only dimly recall what she had seen in the basement so suddenly. The images of the last nightmare, however, were still pretty sharp and immediately brought a hollow feeling back into her stomach. What Mick had had to go through over that long year was so horrible, so inhuman and so cruel that it was even hard for her to bear. It choked her and once again caused this tingling in her nose that usually announced approaching tears.

Beth shuddered inwardly and forced herself to forget the pictures, at least for the moment. She was not sure what it was with this strange connection between them and whether Mick was also able to feel _her_ emotions, to see the images _her_ memory was reflecting, and as long as she didn't know this, it was better to compose herself and not to think about what these devils had done to him. Mick had not yet spoken about it and at this time she would not confront him with this terrible chapter of his life on her own.

Only the images didn't want to be replaced as quickly as she had hoped. Quite the contrary, the more she tried to forget what she had seen that night, what she had witnessed, the fresher and more detailed her memories seemed to get. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. There was no way to stay in his arms when she was this churned up. At his core Mick was a downright sensitive and empathetic person. It was quite possible that he might feel her uproar during sleep and wake up much too soon. Every second of this deep rest was important for him. And that was why she had to go now as much as she enjoyed his closeness and as hard as it was for her to break away from his embrace.

Well, that was a good idea, to break away from the embrace, but damn hard to put into action. She looked at his arm that was snuggled up to hers, his long fingers, resting on the back of her hand and at first moved just her thumb, pushing his own a little sideways. No reaction. His breath blew with the same regularity over her skin as before. Perhaps he really was sleeping so soundly that he would not notice when she carefully freed herself from his grip.

Now, she pressed her whole arm against his, pushed it a few inches away from her, and again stopped tensely. Even now he didn't stir. Very good. Now, she just needed to slowly move away from him.

Beth froze when Mick took a deep breath and moved his arm back again to its original position pulling her body much closer to his own. The situation was as before only now her own arm was lying on top of his and his right hand rested on her breast reminding her of the second reason why it was essential to leave his bed as soon as possible even though Mick was currently sleeping calmly and was certainly not aware of their intimate embrace. Beth, however, felt all the more clearly that in spite of her role as helper she was still a perfectly normal woman with quite natural needs. She was as similarly jinxed as before, the more she tried to persuade herself that this was a completely harmless touch and that it was totally inappropriate to feel sexually stimulated, the more intensely she felt his fingers through the thin fabric of her shirt and the more she became aware of how high the density of nerve endings was in this region of her body.

She could not do anything about it for her body was doing what came naturally. Her nipples hardened and her pulse began to accelerate. Beth swallowed hard and prayed that Mick would not wake up, much less feel what was happening beneath his warm hand. After yesterday's kiss she had become very much aware that his behavior had also changed in relation to his natural, very human needs. He was not as composed as before and this whole situation could easily become a problem. As much as she trusted Mick, to lose control during sex was not even a rarity among normal men. In Mick's case, however, this brought a far greater threat than with any other man at least until his vampire side was able to behave in a civilized way.

Beth breathed deeply again, tenderly stroked her hand over the back of his hand and gently pushed her fingers between his. For a moment she paused and waited for a response from him. But nothing came. She only felt the steady rise and fall of his chest against her back and had to practically force herself to move on, for it was so wonderful to feel his warmth, his muscular body so clearly through her thin clothing. But she was still strong enough to resist her own desires. Again she managed to pull his arm from her body. After she had waited another moment for a reaction, she lifted his pretty heavy arm a bit and turned over on her back. Mick stirred and Beth let go of him almost frightened, so that his arm landed heavily on her belly. She was afraid he would hug her to him again, pull her close to his body, quashing her second attempt at flight, but he turned a bit on his back, once again took a deep breath, uttered a low growl and then lay still again. Only now did Beth dare to breathe again. She turned her head slightly to look at him and noted with satisfaction that his eyes were still closed and he seemed to be sleeping. A small smile appeared on her lips. He looked so peaceful and relaxed, but also exhausted and vulnerable. A feeling of warm affection spread in her belly and slowly encroached on her entire body. And it brought this deep desire to reach out a hand to him and caress his face, tracing its contours, touching the seductive corners of his mouth and allowing her fingers to slide over the delicate skin of his lips. But not only with her fingers, much more with...

Beth ripped her eyes open, horrified. Had her face really come closer to his? Why had she broken away from his arms, if she now wanted to give in to her needs? She violently tore her gaze away from his face, braced herself on her elbows and sat up quickly. Too quickly.

Mick's arm slid from her belly and landed on the mattress, depriving him of the last contact with her body. She saw his eyes moving behind his eyelids just before he turned his head from one side to the other and his brows contracted with obvious displeasure. He breathed deeply through his nose and yet his eyelids lifted. Beth knew that he at first apprehended her only dimly, but he immediately said her name softly with a very raspy voice and raised his hand slightly, as if to grab her.

"Go back to sleep," Beth whispered quickly and touched his shoulder, letting her hand run over his upper arm in a calming gesture as she gently pushed his other hand back onto the mattress. "I'll be back soon."

Mick struggled to keep his eyes open for the heaviness of sleep still weighed too strongly on his entire body. So it was no surprise when his eyelids in fact closed and he once again drifted into the world of dreams.

Beth waited a moment then she finally dared to stand up. Although it was not really cold in Mick's room, she shivered slightly and cast a longing glance at the now fairly relaxed-looking, inviting male body, which had warmed her all night and even now promised so much security and protection. It was really not easy to be a reasonable person.

She uttered a little sigh, turned away from Mick and quickly left the room. It couldn't be very late in the morning for the light that came through the windows of each room was too dusky. Beth was almost glad when she left the dark hallway behind her and stepped into the much brighter living room. Since her last experience with August, dark corridors gave her the creeps. But now she was not spared from a small heart attack either for when her gaze wandered through the apparently empty room and then slid over to the dark kitchen area she made out the outlines of a dark figure whose reflecting eyes set their sights directly on her. The little cry that wanted to burst out of her throat instead croaked out in a low squeak and she stood still as if frozen. Of course, she knew that in this house she had to prepare for the appearance of a vampire at any moment, but this one was so strange to her.

"Did I scare you?" the vampire asked gently, baring his sharp, white canines with a small smile. He moved slightly towards her so that now the dim light of dawn was falling into his face and she recognized the short, stout man Lance had left here. Hendrik was his name, as far as she could remember. She had not often met him before because he usually slept during the day and that had been quite all right with her. To be alone with him now made her a bit nervous. He was not one of her friends and because of that had to be handled with care, especially because he was for some reason currently in a state of transformation.  
When she eyed him up with a quick glance she found that he was holding a glass with blood in his hand. It calmed her down at first, but quickly lost its effect when Hendrik's eyes wandered with clear interest up and down her body causing her to feel weak in the knees.

"So ... you've taken over Josef's morning shift," she tried to conceal her insecurity and earned another smile.

"Of course not," he said setting his glass on a shelf next to him and continued to approach her. "I was just a bit .... thirsty."

With his last word his eyes caught her neck and Beth tried to ease her way toward the entrance of the living room. Although she smiled back at him as best as she could, she could not prevent her heartbeat from quickening dramatically. Mick's room was not far... not far...

The bushy eyebrows of her counterpart knitted in apparent confusion while his eyes scanning her neck were almost physically palpable. "I thought you were with him overnight," the vampire noted with mild surprise in his voice and Beth immediately understood what he was hinting at. Why did all these vampires always assume that she was responsible for Mick's nutrition? Probably their own stimulating fantasies which grew stronger the longer they had to feed on stored blood were to blame for that. That after a certain time every vampire in this house could become a potential danger to her by their forced abstinence of fresh human blood Beth hadn't really been aware of until now.

"Hadn't he been hungry?" came the next inevitable question.

"I'm not Mick's Freshie!" Beth said a bit too forcefully and Hendrik raised his eyebrows in astonishment. He seemed to take her reaction completely the wrong way because joy flashed up in his eyes and he moved again, closer to her. Beth took another step backwards and was frightened when she suddenly had the wall behind her. Somehow she had missed the entrance into the living room by half a meter.

"Does that mean you are open to offers from other vampires?" the sturdy man said and tried to lend his voice a soft sound. It sounded awfully anxious and anything but sexy.

"No!" she blurted out fiercely, "It definitely doesn't mean _that_!"

The vampire stopped barely half a meter away from her and tilted his head, smiling slightly. "I could give you a lot of pleasure. My Freshies have always been very pleased with me."

"And Mick will bite your head off," Beth responded forcefully.

Hendrik frowned confused. Apparently he was not the brightest bulb in the box which was confirmed by his next words. "You just said you're _not_ his Freshie!"

Beth looked at him with wide eyes. Could it really be that this man in all the time he had spent in this house had been so out of it that he did not know in which way Mick and she related?

Then he smiled knowingly, as if he had caught her in a lie. "So... what do we both do now?"  
She shook her head in disbelief. "No-thing!"

He knitted his brows one more time which gave his simple face a slightly annoyed expression. "Come on, you can at least grant me a few sips of warm blood. I won't drain you. There would still be enough left for him and _he_ can also drink stored blood for some time."

Beth gave a short laugh. That was just too absurd! The man really believed that she liked being tapped by vampires and at the moment only acted coyly because she had to be at Mick's disposal whenever he needed her blood. Apparently, there were also absolute jerks among the vampires!

A noise from the hallway caused them both to wince but Hendrik was not smart enough to put a proper distance between himself and Beth in time, although the chance that Mick would show up was relatively high.

It _was_ Mick. Beth could feel it even before he stepped into the entrance of the living area close to her. Despite his drowsy state he immediately realized what was happening between her and Hendrik. The expression in his dark eyes changed in a few seconds from tired into wide awake and Hendrik now backed away from the at least a head taller, now very angry-looking man who instantly pushed himself between him and Beth with a large step.

"Do you have a problem?" Mick asked dangerously low and his slight croakiness made it almost sound like a hollow growl.

"Mick, it's all right. Nothing happened," Beth quickly intervened and grabbed his arm from behind to turn him around toward her. But that was easier said than done for Mick's blazing eyes had literally fastened onto the ones of his counterpart. She could feel the trembling of his body under her fingers and knew that Mick, based on what happened the previous day, had quite bad nerves. This wasn't good.

"Yes, exactly ... I ...," Hendrik took a few more steps backward and Beth could, with the use all of her strength, at least prevent Mick from following him, "... we just had a chat!"

Mick turned to her a bit and Beth noticed worriedly that his eyes had assumed a visibly brighter tone. "Is that right?"

It was hard for her to withstand the intensity of his gaze, but she managed to nod.

His eyes flew back to Hendrik, who had gotten slightly paler around his nose. "And what was it about?" he wanted to know from him. Hendrik's mind worked really slowly, dangerously slowly. He just stood there, his mouth opening and shutting again and visibly suffering from the emptiness in his head.

"About Josef," Beth came quickly to his aid and instantly got Mick's attention. Another transformation would really not be good for them at the moment. "We're wondering when he'll come back. And then Hendrik noticed that actually he's very tired and has no time for a chat. He was about to go back into the cellar." She glanced past Mick's shoulder and insistently looked at the other vampire. "Weren't you?"

The man froze in place for far too long, but then he realized what she wanted to tell him, and nodded quickly. "Exactly," he added, and set into motion immediately to pass Mick. He did not get far, for when he was at shoulder height Mick suddenly stretched out his hand and grabbed his arm. Beth could see Hendrik freezing and Mick's cheek muscles twitching and expected the worst. Mick leaned in to the vampire far enough that his lips were close to his ear. Beth held her breath.

"If you ever dare to approach her _that_ way again, I'll break every bone in your body and feed your heart to the coyotes out there," Mick whispered to Hendrik barely audible. She saw the man swallow hard and then nod. For a long moment Mick kept holding him and staring at his neck as if he wanted to dig his teeth into it, then he gave him a slight push and the vampire stumbled into the hallway. The look Hendrik was giving Mick spoke volumes. There was fear in his narrow eyes, but also newly formed hatred and great anger. But Hendrik's mind sufficed to make him realize that all alone he had not a ghost of a chance against a vampire like Mick and that was the only reason why he turned around and disappeared in the direction of the basement, leaving behind an uncomfortable feeling in Beth's stomach. Something told her that this incident would have consequences.

For a heartbeat Mick stared into the darkness of the corridor, while Beth allowed the air to return to her lungs which they desperately needed after this excitement.

"You don't need to lie for vampires like him, Beth," Mick said softly and looked at her. There was anger in his eyes, but also concern.

"He really did nothing to me," she replied and took a step toward him. To some extent it was even absurd. Mick was a far more dangerous vampire than this Hendrik but instead of fearing him, she was, if anything, addicted to his proximity.

His eyebrows moved toward each other and a half-hearted, doubting smile played around his lips. "He wanted to bite you," he reminded her, but she only shook her head.

"He wanted to ask for permission to bite me," she corrected him.

The forceful line between his brows deepened. "That's the same thing!"

"It's not, because it shows that even he has a considerable respect for you," she tried to convince him because the tremor in his voice was still too evident. "No one in this house will do anything to me, Mick. Not as long as you're here."

Now he was the one who shook his head. "They're vampires, Beth! Not all have themselves as well under control as Josef or Logan."

"I know," she said softly, and soothingly put a hand on his arm, "and I'll be careful while Josef is gone. I promise!"

Her touch and the gentle sound of her voice had their effect. Mick took a deep breath and let go of his own tension. The anger and much of the anxiety disappeared from his gaze and she rewarded him for that with a warm smile.

"Why did you get up?" she steered him completely away from the topic of Hendrik and dropped her hand. "You need sleep so badly."

"I..." He shrugged his shoulders a little bit helpless. "I noticed that you were no longer there and somehow ..." A further shrug followed the first one. "The bed was so cold and uncomfortable all at once. I... I missed you."

Beth let out a little happy laugh and resisted the urge to fall into his arms and cover his face with tender kisses only with difficulty.

"I certainly did not want to wake you," she instead replied apologetically. "But I'll make up for it. After all, we still have a few brownies in the fridge."

Mick's eyes widened as he remembered the delicacies which she had defended so vehemently against him, and his lips curled up into a very happy smile. "Breakfast?"

She nodded with a grin and his smile became a beam that made her heart melt and sent a shiver of the most pleasant kind down her spine.

"I'll just jump quickly into the shower," he said and disappeared within seconds in the hallway.  
Beth was again more than satisfied with herself. By now she knew quite well which buttons she had to press to bring Mick back into a positive state of mind and that was extremely helpful.

* * *

A little bit later, Beth had already set the entire table and put a large pot of coffee on. She hadn't been as demanding as the last time and therefore was done fairly quickly, but it gave her at least as much fun as the previous day. To eat breakfast with Mick was really something she could get used to.

"Good morning," a voice suddenly rang out from the entrance of the living room and the sight of a good-humored Peterson kept her from wincing, scared. Not a vampire, who was eager for her blood.

She managed a friendly smile. "Good morning, Frank!"

The professor's gaze, however, was now clinging to the richly laden table. "Oh ... is there breakfast?" he asked hopefully, and Beth really had to brace herself to keep a straight face and not to show all too clearly that she actually had wanted to eat breakfast with Mick alone.  
"Yeah, you ... you can join us, if you want to," she said instead.

The professor shook his head. "I... I'll only hamper you," he said, but the gaze he looked at the food with was so yearning that Beth almost had to laugh. "Nobody in his right mind wants to have his doctor sitting at the breakfast table," he added. "And Mick should feel comfortable."

"Then just take something with you to the porch," she suggested. "Eating breakfast there would definitely be just wonderful."

Peterson still hesitated slightly. "Really?" he asked uncertainly. But she nodded so emphatically that he gave her a grateful smile and immediately approached the kitchen cupboard to take out a plate.

Beth watched him thoughtfully for a moment as he buttered his sandwiches and then decided to ask him for advice concerning a certain topic that also concerned Mick, before he returned to the kitchen again.

"Frank?"

"Mm-um." The professor was focused on his sandwiches but gave the impression that he was still receptive.

"Do you believe in something like telepathy?"

Frank stopped and looked up. "In what way?"

She shrugged her shoulders and decided to keep the whole thing on a more general level. Not that he thought she was crazy. "Well, yes, for example, people who can sense when something's happening to the people they love... or others who seem to be connected with each other in their dreams."

She lowered her gaze a bit and after only a little while dared to look up again. Peterson, however, never looked as if he was amused or even shocked, but seemed to think seriously about her words.

"Well," he said. "Parapsychology is not really my field of expertise, but, since humans and vampires to an even greater degree are highly energetic creatures, I consider such things at least as not impossible." He thoughtfully scratched his temple. "I would even say it is quite conceivable that such things like this exist. The Nigong were supposed to have had such skills and thus the very first vampires as well. Whether this is just a myth or the truth, I don't know. As I said, this is not my field of expertise."

"Do you know someone who has more knowledge of this?" Beth inquired hopefully.

Frank raised his eyes to the ceiling and thought for a few seconds. Then he nodded. "Dr. Falkner at the University of California has given some seminars on this topic. He certainly knows a lot more. But, why are you so interested in it? Has it something to do with Mick?"

"I ..." She stopped and avoided his gaze. "There are a few incidents I first need to figure out for myself."

Of course, her clumsy wording stirred his curiosity even more, but somehow she did not really want to entrust herself to him. She was not so sure if he really needed to be privy to everything that concerned Mick even if he was his doctor.

"Incidents of a psychic nature?" the professor asked enthusiastically.

"Frank." She raised her hands soothingly. "Another time, okay?"

She could see how he wrestled with himself, but finally he nodded understandingly.

"Then I'll go settle myself on the porch," he said and with a small smile took his well-filled plate and the coffee cup in his hands and went on his way out of the house.

Beth's eyes followed him until the door closed behind him and then breathed deeply. Perhaps it had been a mistake to touch upon this issue with him, but at least she now knew that he knew someone who could maybe help her. For one thing was clear: that strange spiritual connection between herself and Mick was really something special. She ran both hands over her face and then through her hair and then realized that she had neither brushed her hair nor washed. She had not even been able to take a look into the mirror since she had left Mick's room and thought for sure that she must look like something the cat brought in. In this condition she could hardly sit down with him at the table. So she left the breakfast table as it was and quickly dashed into the hallway to the better of the two bathrooms in the house, inwardly still engaged with the talk.

She was so deeply enmeshed in her thoughts that she did not at first notice that the bathroom was still occupied. Mick stood in front of the small sink and had just looked with concentration into the mirror. Now he turned to her in surprise, while she stopped dead and blinked at him startled. Only now did she notice the warm, foggy dampness in the bathroom which settled on the walls and her skin and quickly reminded her that Mick had announced his intention to take a shower. Fortunately, he was already finished with it and he was wearing his jeans and a shirt that he had not yet buttoned. One side of his face was full of shaving cream while the other side had only some patches covered with it. Beside him, water was splashing from the faucet into the sink.

Beth now felt a bit uncomfortable due to barging in unannounced and she was about to leave with an embarrassed smile but the expression in Mick's eyes stopped her. Though one corner of his mouth had lifted up into a charmingly lop-sided smile the resignation and slight look of despair in his eyes that he had not been able to conceal from her in time didn't escape her.

Beth's mind worked quickly. She immediately noticed several small, lightly bleeding cuts on his cheek and the distinct tremor of the hand in which he held the razor. This was due to the incident yesterday evening and the exhausting night. He, of course, tried hard to feign to her that everything was all right and that the break out of his trauma would carry no real consequences, but he couldn't fool her. The shaking of his hands showed that he inwardly hadn't really come to rest yet and the incident with Hendrik had taken it one step further.

"I ... I'm almost ready," he said and completed his smile when he lifted the other corner of his mouth. But it did not reach his eyes.

Beth took a deep breath and walked up to him. Confusion was shown in his beautiful and at the moment, ocean-blue eyes. She briefly touched one of the cuts with her fingers and he flinched slightly.

"I can do this better," she said softly and simply took the razor from his hand. She expected objections but no sound came from his lips. Instead, something like relief showed in his eyes and a warm feeling of affection flooded through Beth, which was quickly reflected on her lips. His behavior showed what she had inwardly felt much earlier: that their relationship was moving toward a much more intimate, trusting direction than ever before. Mick was slowly becoming less afraid to show weakness in her presence. He confided in her and took advantage of the help and support she was offering him without feeling ashamed of it.

Beth stepped even closer to him and avoided at all costs letting her eyes run over his partly nude chest which was not so easy because she wasn't wearing shoes and without them just reached up to his nose. But when she raised her hand she was still able to easily get to the parts of his face which had not been freed from the shaving cream and stubble. Cautiously, she let the sharp blades glide over his skin and took great care to hold her hand calmly so that she did not also cut him. And that turned out to be more than difficult. She felt his warm breath on her cheek and inhaled the wonderful scent of soap, clean skin and male pheromones. And this warm moisture that his body was still exuding so soon after taking a shower was almost unbearable. She felt her throat getting tight and the rhythm of her heart getting much faster, no matter how hard she fought against it.

Her eyes followed the movements of her hand sliding over the skin she was gradually exposing. That smoldering desire inside her to touch with her fingers how his skin felt now, freshly freed from the dark stubble that had surfaced in the course of the last day, grew stronger every second. She held the razor for a brief moment under the gently rippling water tap next to her without averting her eyes from his face and gave in to the temptation to lay her other hand on his cheek as she applied the razor in her hand to the last place on his chin which still needed her attention. How soft and warm his skin was all at once. She just _had_ to skim her thumb over his cheek, _had_ to follow the contours of his chin with her fingers, while the shaver was moving smoothly over the last centimeter of his untouched skin, completing her work unnoticed. His rapid breath now blew directly over her lips and she found it increasingly difficult not to think other thoughts for his body was just too close, his proximity too clearly palpable and his mouth ... oh, his seductive mouth.

She noticed only marginally that she had stopped her movements. More clearly she was aware that Mick's chest rose and fell in an obviously more rapid rate and that he looked at her with an intensity that almost forced her to tear her gaze from his mouth and look into his eyes. Her heart leaped and shot a blast of heat throughout her body because suddenly there was such a strong sexual desire revealed in his eyes that she caught her breath. Mick gave her no time to digest this realization. He only needed to bend down a few centimeters and his lips grazed hers in an incredibly provocative, challenging way. A hot-cold shiver ran down her back and immediately shook her whole body. Again his lips seized hers, but far less timid this time as an arm slipped around her waist and pulled her close to his warm, strong body.

Beth's heart did not just beat anymore, it was pounding wildly in her chest. As if in a trance she let the razor fall into the sink, rose up on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around Mick's neck and gave in to his urging lips. A low moan escaped her throat as his tongue slipped between her lips and immediately collided with hers, stroking and challenging it, causing all the heat and tingling in her body to shoot directly into her abdomen. Mick gasped into her mouth, his hands wandered impetuously over her back pressing her closer against him while his kisses became deeper and more demanding. He pushed her backwards until her back bumped against the wall of the narrow bathroom and leaned into her, bending a bit in order to go on kissing her heatedly. Now there was no way for her to escape anymore. And actually she didn't want to either. Actually... For the small voice of reason inside of her of course wouldn't accept this.

'You have to stop this!' it screamed inside her. 'It is far too soon! You can surely sense that he's not in control, even as a human!'

How true. Mick had never been that uninhibited, that permissive to his own desires. His mind had totally bowed out and had left the field to his natural instincts. His hungry kisses left her barely room to breathe, his hands on her back quickly wandered down, seized the fabric of her shirt and pulled it out of her jeans. He left no doubt what he now wanted to do immediately. Beth took a trembling breath as his mouth finally slipped from her lips, grazed her chin to then press onto the delicate skin of her neck with a sound of utter arousal.

'Go! Say something! Stop him! Think about your intents! Think of your dream! He'll bite you!'

But it felt so good, so right, so exciting as he sucked at her tingling skin, with his tongue feeling out every inch of her neck. His hands didn't stay idle but slid under her shirt. Their first contact with her bare skin sent a slight quivering throughout her body, which immediately changed into a blatantly obvious traction between her thighs, because his fingers quickly slid up to her waist, leaving behind a burning trail on her bare skin. God, how she had yearned for that! Beth gasped as his hands gently skimmed over the curves of her breasts with enough pressure to make this touch all too palpable despite the delicate fabric of the bra that covered her tingling skin and causing her nipples to immediately become rigid. Now it was his thumbs that skimmed over the hard peaks with an agonizing slowness that made her bite her lower lip to not let out all the sensual sounds that penetrated up in her. Her body had developed a life of its own and now leaned in to him eagerly heating him up to go further. His lips broke away from her neck as both hands again slipped out of her shirt seized the hem of it and pulled it over her head. The brief loss of physical contact brought some clarity back into her befogged mind.

"Mick wait," she said hoarsely as she tried to catch her shirt before he could drop it, but he was too fast. Instead of the shirt she just touched his wrist, which didn't help much for in her aroused state she had not the strength to hold him back. She inhaled to say something, but was again not fast enough because his mouth hungrily captured her lips again and for a second time caused this pleasant, all too familiar traction between her thighs. Nevertheless, she managed to raise a hand and press it against his chest with the intention to push him back a bit.

Mistake. Terrible mistake. It was warm, naked skin she touched, so soft and wonderful... and so tempting. Her lust instantly won the upper hand. She wanted to feel more of it, wanted to feel out the firm muscles, moving under that velvety skin. Her other hand followed the first, roamed over his firm chest muscle, further down to his belly.

Mick uttered an impatient, but clearly sensual sound as he wrapped his arms around her waist and brought their bodies so close together that she only managed with difficulty to pull her hands out from between them. She felt the clear, hard sign of his excitement pressing into her belly and her own body immediately responded with a distinct throbbing in the center of her womanhood, which certainly would not fade away quickly. She clung to his shoulders as his kisses got even more challenging, reacting to the tantalizing game of his tongue in her mouth with a fierceness that totally contradicted the commands of her reason.

She drew a breath, gasping, as Mick let up on her lips and his mouth once again attended to her neck, roamed down to her cleavage, while his fingers stroked down her shoulder and pulled down a strap of her bra.

'BETH!' she screamed at herself and, surprisingly, that helped a bit. She braced herself with all the strength she still possessed against Mick's chest and pushed him at least far enough away from her that she could wriggle herself out of his embrace. She was afraid she would hurt or unsettle him with her action and turned to him with an apologetic gaze after she had lifted her shirt from the floor, but Mick did not show the slightest sign of insecurity. Quite the contrary. He hadn't stayed where she had left him but was already so close again that she accidentally turned directly into the arms he was reaching toward her.

"Mick, we ...," she started, but was again silenced by his warm, urging lips. This really wasn't fair! She closed her eyes with an illegally languorous groan and submissively let him pull her back to his body. Her strength to resist was used up. His arms closed tightly around her waist and pressed her against him, letting her again feel how aroused he was and what he wanted from her. This didn't put her on the alert, but once again increased her sexual need. Beth's heart pounded loudly all the way up into her head and she could hardly breathe, feeling dizzy. Her legs were now as wobbly as pudding. But instead of trying again to end this before it was too late, she fervently responded to his possessive, hungry kisses and against all reason threw her arms around his neck as he lifted her with ease and this time trapped her between himself and the door, pressing his lower body in a nerve-wracking, very stimulating way into her heated center. God, why did he have to feel so good, why did he have to smell so enticing and taste so wonderful? This man was pure temptation created by the devil himself.

"Mick," she moaned into his ear as his lips were again on the move, his tongue sliding over her burning skin down her neck and approaching much too fast the soft curves of her breasts. His fingers now seized the other strap of her bra and pulled it down so far that the embroidered fabric slipped unbearably, infuriatingly over the hard peak of her breast, closely followed by his lips.

"No... We should..." She drew a hissing breath when his mouth closed around the sensitive nipple and gently sucked at it. When his soft, hot tongue also slipped over the sensitive peak, circled it, teased it, she had to cling to his shoulders not to slide down the door. She sucked air into her lungs, trembling, eyes closed, addicting herself to this intoxicating feeling. To hell with this damn caution! She wanted more of it... much more... He wasn't allowed to stop anymore...

But fate had other plans.

"Hello?" She heard a muffled voice as if from a distance through the door and she tore her eyes open in horror. "Is anyone in there?"

Mick had also lifted his head reluctantly, but did not make the smallest move to release her. "Yeah," he grumbled instead, but Beth was able to put her hands between both of them and to push him back again so that she could free herself from him and step out of the reach of the door. With trembling fingers she brought her bra back in the old position and as quickly as she could she pulled her shirt over her head. Just in time, because as she had remembered correctly, the door was not locked and the next moment a slightly confused Logan entered the room. Why the hell were all the vampires in this house suddenly at this early time on their feet?

Mick was still a bit paralyzed and seemed to have great difficulty in processing what had just happened between them, let alone calmed down yet. Nevertheless, he managed to cast such a black look at Logan that the vampire abruptly stopped his movements.

"Did I disturb you in any way?" he asked confused and Mick and Beth said simultaneously a less than convincing "No!"

"Actually, I just wanted to shower," Logan said and moved backwards again. "I... I can do it later ..."

"No, no," Beth replied immediately and although her libidinal side protested vociferously and called for withdrawing with Mick to an undisturbed place where they could give in to their desires, she quickly pushed past him. "We... we're done..." She stopped and stayed in the doorway. "... With our conversation, I mean."

She agreed with herself with a nod and threw an uneasy glance at Mick. To her relief, he still didn't look as if her behavior had hurt him in any way. There was great regret in his eyes, but still far too much desire and she knew that she really had to move out of his reach if she didn't want to risk them pouncing on each other like two wild animals the moment they were alone again. Just the thought of it chased another hot-cold shiver down her spine. She turned quickly away from the two men and left the bathroom, inwardly shaking her head about herself. How could one so badly lose control? Her legs were still so wobbly that she staggered slightly as she walked down the hall but her pulse began to calm down slowly and the dizziness subsided.

In the middle of the living room she paused, closed her eyes and with pursed lips let the air out of her lungs very slowly and softly. This incident had shown her very clearly that it was no matter if she was in bed with Mick or was standing in the bathroom with him, _any_ physical contact with him always had fatal consequences. What madness. What a chaos of feelings. It is said that sexual tension slowly reduced once you had slept with someone. But with Mick and her it seemed to be just the opposite. Now that she knew what she could expect her desire had grown, her body responded to his touch even more intensely than before. Perhaps the year of their separation was to blame for that. But the fact remained that they both had great difficulty in controlling themselves as soon as they allowed a certain proximity to each other. Understanding and reason were in this context two extremely weak journeymen.

Of course, Mick did not stay behind with Logan in the bathroom. She hadn't really expected that he would. As before, she felt his presence as he approached her before he came through the entrance of the living room. This gave her time to go quickly into the kitchen area and pretend that she had long since won back her control and was now about to prepare breakfast. She opened the refrigerator and hastily looked for something that she could put onto the table secretly hoping that Mick had calmed down so far that his reason had taken control of his body. She felt that he came up to her and could not avoid her heart beating faster once again. He audibly took a deep breath.

"We should maybe talk about it," she could hear him say with a slight hoarseness in his voice.

She hesitated a moment before she closed the refrigerator and lifted her gaze. Well, he had calmed down, but the warm, excited glint in his eyes was still there as well as this heated, slightly tense atmosphere between them. This was dangerous. Where were all the other people in this house when you needed them?

She had to swallow hard to be able to reply at all. "Yes, that ..." She cleared her throat again, because her voice sounded as scratchy as his. "Probably we should."

She noticed clearly that his eyes wandered to her lips and turned quickly away from him, struggling tooth and nail against her own reluctance.

"I... I don't want you to think that I'm afraid of you," she said quickly and turned to him again when she had gained enough distance from him. "You know that I trust you, but ..."

"... We should still be cautious," he agreed with a nod and approached her again as if she was a magnet whose pull he could not escape.

"You wouldn't kill me," she said firmly to clear up all of his doubts.

"It ... it would be bad enough if I frightened you," he said. "And I... I might hurt you."

'You wouldn't,' she wanted to say, but she instead kept silence. She couldn't exclude it entirely. And if Mick kept up just this one small concern perhaps he would be able to contain himself better the next time they came close to each other.

"Maybe we should take some precautions," she said quietly with a husky voice, because she noted worriedly that Mick once again was much too close. The half-meter distance now parting them was quickly overcome.

"Like... a certain distance to each other," she added, when also this distance was shrinking too quickly and Mick finally stopped.

"Like now?" he asked softly in a goose bumps causing voice and although she felt his proximity so strongly again, she shook her head. He seemingly saw this as an invitation to come closer and now not only Beth's heart beat accelerated, but also her breathing. Five inches was not much distance, it was a torture, especially because Mick's shirt was still not closed and she simply _had_ to let her eyes roam over his wonderful brown skin, down to his navel, following the line of fine, darker hairs that disappeared in the waist band of his jeans. How she wished to reach out her hands for him and pull him back to her body to finally get what she needed so desperately. But she couldn't, wouldn't allow herself to do that.

She reluctantly lifted her gaze and looked into his incredibly beautiful eyes. Eyes you could lose yourself in and which promised her that all her wishes would be fulfilled if she gave him only a small signal to brush his badly ailing reason aside. But for the second time that day someone else took this decision at its most critical point out of her hand.

Mick's gaze surprisingly broke away from her eyes and darted over to the door. Beth was sure that he had heard something that had escaped her human hearing. And only when he looked at her again did she hear from afar the quite dull and familiar sound that only one machine could produce: Josef's helicopter.


	44. Home

_*__A wonderful Sunday to all of you! We've got great weather here in Berlin and I'm in a great mood because of that and because I can post a new chapter right in time. I thank you so, so much for the last reviews! I absorbed them literally. You all really made my day and that way it's a real joy to translate my story for you. All those dear words and compliments…Feel hugged! And a huge, fat hug to SG6169 who did again the beta work for this chapter! You're great! See you all at Thursday again and hope you'll have a great week, yours Jenna*_

_P.S. Lucretiareadsall: There are 15 chapters left, plus an Epilog. And a few of these chapters are quite long. So you have still a lot to read. And yes there is a little cliffhanger at the end. And it's right, at the moment I'm writing the sequel to Newborn. It's called Blood of the Lily and I'm posting it at the moment at the German fanfiction site. It looks like it's getting even longer than Newborn for the chapters are longer. And at the moment I'm writing chapter 29. So as I said: Still much to read…_

* * *

**H****ome**

* * *

_"Home is not where you reside, but where you're understood." _

_Christian Morgenstern _

* * *

Baja California. Part of the Baja California peninsula and one of the thirty-one states of Mexico. Dry desert climate, where summer temperatures could get up to about 104F. A population density of thirty-two inhabitants per square kilometer... _Thirty-two inhabitants per square kilometer_!

If anyone had told me a few months ago that I would voluntarily stay in this dry forsaken patch of land for more than two days and additionally that I would be delighted to see a certain farmhouse, so far away from civilization, from the helicopter - I would have certified them completely insane and would have had them committed. Now it was my own mind I'd begun to doubt, as I climbed nimbly out of the roaring steel bird and immediately hurried with flying steps towards the shabby looking wooden building, which disguised itself as a habitable house. Density, inconvenience and the lack of any kind of comfort spoke from the faded wooden walls of the longish building, and still I couldn't keep the warm yearning in my heart from forcing a little smile to my lips. The yet quite intense rays of the morning sun were having quite an effect on my weak mind…

I had left LA troubled. I knew that there were still so many things left that needed my urgent attention. The 'Benjamin Talbot' matter was solved to our satisfaction for the time being, but this was not true for Ritchcroft. In our last, very brief conversation, he had begged me to finally get him abroad and by doing so, keep my end of the bargain, but unfortunately I could not meet his wish just yet. Not until Logan had analyzed all the information Ritchcroft had handed over to us and that we knew for sure if we could really trust him. Of course, it carried a certain risk to leave him with a bunch of distrustful vampires, but I trusted that Max had his 'guys' under control and that I would find Ritchcroft alive when I returned the following evening.

The shadow, cast on my heated head by the roof of the porch, felt like a friendly welcome and I paused for a few more seconds in front of the rickety door of the house and closed my eyes to enjoy the strange feeling of coming home.

"A beautiful morning, isn't it?"

I winced violently, almost dropping Ritchcroft's briefcase that I carried with me and opened my eyes wide in horror when this voice suddenly pierced my ears. How could it have slipped my attention that someone was sitting on the porch? And additionally that it was a human! My behavior unsettled the professor slightly. He seemingly had assumed that an experienced vampire like me would notice his presence even from ten yards away. He wasn't alone with that assumption...

"Did... did I scare you?" he asked, puzzled, and I shook my head, even though I knew how ridiculous my behavior was. If I had been one of those bat-like cartoon vampires, I probably would now be glued to the bottom of the roof, hissing.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked a little too stern, because the crumbs on his plate and the half-full cup of coffee said very clearly: eating breakfast!

Frank took a breath to answer my question, but he didn't get far because the very next moment the front door flew open and the only woman currently living in this house flung her arms around my neck, with a delighted "_Josef_!" and a smile, that could almost compete with the brightness of the sun, and hugged me briefly.

Though I struggled against it, the warm feeling in my chest got even more intense. Especially because just seconds later Mick also appeared on the porch and so I finally had the two people around me again that I had missed and worried about the most.

I had not failed to notice that Mick countered Beth's boisterous welcome with a slight frown. But he as well tried to at least give me a friendly smile, though I could feel that something about my sudden appearance had not really suited him at the moment. It stung me a bit, but it had also forced me to take a closer look at my two friends. Something had changed in my absence and I had a vague idea what it was...

"It's great to have you back," Beth said softly as I tried, unnoticed by her, to place this new subtle essence that emanated from her body in a scent. Was this perhaps an increased number of pheromones and estrogens?

"You don't look that well," she added more gravely. She was probably right. Although I had indeed been able to dedicate myself for several hours to the relaxing refrigeration in a freezer and had taken in a few bags of blood, I was nowhere near up to the mark. Stress wasn't alleviated that easily and also the state of exhaustion was not far enough away to not have its effects on me anymore.

I raised an eyebrow and eyed myself up. "But I've tried so hard to look handsome," I replied with a not so convincing smile.

"You know what I mean," she responded in a slightly reproving tone and her eyes wandered to my left arm, which fortunately was now hidden again under the fabric of a fairly decent shirt. Max had helped me in this regard and his taste was much better and more expensive than that of Seth Blunter.

"Is everything all right with you?" Beth inquired sensitively and the warm smile that I gave her was really sincere. Her caring was in a small way doing me good after all the stress. I almost felt tempted to unburden my overflowing heart to her right here on the spot, to blow off a bit of steam, but my own pride and Mick's presence kept me from doing so - even if he did, remarkably, give a more strengthened impression. I really hadn't expected this after yesterday's events.

"Josef?" My eyes had probably lingered a bit too long on my friend and caused a bit of impatience in Beth.

"Yes... I...," I stopped for a blink of an eye to recall her question. "I'm fine. There are only a few things that worry me a little and require an urgent meeting in a close circle."

"Problematic things?" Mick asked me, immediately stepping closer, so that for a second time, I was assailed by the overpowering urge to talk my worries away, unrestrained, as I had done back when Mick had been the only person in my life that I could entrust myself to and who had always been there for me. But I had to keep in mind that my friend was not quite ready to withstand the additional stress - even if he did for a moment remind me so much of the old Mick whom I missed so badly. How had Beth managed this in such a short period of time...?

"Josef?" This time it was Mick, who furrowed his brows confused because I hadn't responded to his question. No, I really wasn't quite myself at the moment.

"Um... yes," I stammered to my annoyance. "I..." I looked around briefly and pointed with a nod of my head toward the door. "Let's go in for now."

I simply pushed past my two friends, once again secretly inhaling their scent, and then entered the much cooler and darker interior of the house. The temperature difference felt so good that the developing anger, concerning these two unreasonable people, had withdrawn into a darker corner of my mind for now. Only the thought of absolutely having a serious talk with Mick and Beth remained. I was not one hundred percent sure what the two of them had done only a few minutes before my helicopter had landed, but if I wasn't mistaken...

"So, what are these new problems?" asked Mick who had instantly followed me, interrupted my thoughts, and brought me back to the topic at hand.

"There have happened, and soon will happen, a few things to which I have not fully size up yet," I told him, along with Beth and Frank, who had just joined us. "I just think..." I paused to sort my thoughts. Somehow everything was whirling inside my head at the moment. "...I think first and foremost our time pressure will increase... And because of this..." I took a deep breath, but was not able to talk on because at this moment Logan had also entered the living room. His hair was still wet and he smelled of soap and aftershave, so he probably had at last gained the insight that a certain degree of personal care was indispensable from time to time, even for vampires.

"_Josef_!" he uttered in a similarly cheerful tone as Beth had before and I prayed inwardly that he did not come up with the idea to also fall round my neck. "I _thought_ I had heard the helicopter." He approached me much too rapidly...

"Could you perhaps go get Seth," it abruptly shot out of me and Logan indeed stopped in his motion towards me. "We need you both here..."

The sudden order stunned him a bit, but he finally nodded - after all, I had entitled him as an important person - and immediately he disappeared into the hallway.

I breathed a sigh of relief, sat down on one of the rickety armchairs without any further explanation despite the inquiring glances of my friends and placed Ritchcroft's briefcase down next to me. It was almost a good feeling to sink in the badly processed furniture - it was so familiar, so homelike... _Had I really just thought this_?!

I noticed that Beth and Mick sat down on the couch in front of me in one synchronous movement and suppressed a smirk. The young woman looked at me very thoughtfully, and I knew that a mountain of questions was starting to pile up in her pretty head.

"Did you leave Ben and this other man alone with Max?" The first name and the touch of concern in Beth's voice educed another slightly disapproving expression in Mick's eyes. If this wasn't our old friend 'jealousy'... I didn't know for sure if I should chalk it up as further progress in his recovery, or as one of the many questionable factors in his development.

"Ben would actually have to be either back at work or at home," I replied calmly. "With regard to Ritchcroft, I think I can count on Max's promise to keep him in safe custody."

"You... you let Talbot go just like that?" Mick could hardly believe what he was hearing.

"The tar pit, due to the enormous press of people, is currently in an expansion phase and is unfortunately out of order," I replied with a straight-face and noticed contently that Mick briefly rolled his eyes. Why did he ask me such a witless question? 'Just like that'...

"What agreement did you reach with him?" Beth asked instead. Apparently_ her_ mind had recovered quicker than his from whatever the two of them had been doing before my arrival. For me this question was indeed a bit more uncomfortable, for I hadn't planned to tell Mick so soon about the conditions Talbot had set. "We agreed that in some ways we are on the same side," I tried to cautiously circumnavigate the cliffs of that trade. "At least we are both aiming to unhinge the Legion and have agreed that we might reach that goal quicker if we feed each other with new information."

"Wait a minute..." Mick leaned forward to me and furrowed his strained brows. "You abducted and imprisoned Talbot, and probably also threatened him..."

I put on a feigned indignant face and raised my hands defensively, with this gesture pushing this presumption far away from me.

"... And Talbot lets you fob him off with such a laughable exchange of information?!" Mick's facial expression changed from critical to almost amused. "You're kidding me!"

I shrugged my shoulders because I just couldn't come up with anything better. Where had they gone, all the casual sayings and credible excuses? Somehow my creative side had slowly but surely said good-bye from all the stress. My lack of speech seemed to confuse Mick as well, for he still looked at me expectantly, and the pensive wrinkle between his brows got even deeper with every passing second.

I gave up – far faster than usual. "He wants to talk with you, alone and apparently without an ambush. We can freely choose the time and place."

Mick's reaction was amazingly restrained. "And why exactly?" he asked instead of jumping up upset and cursing the smarmy lawyer. If I had been in his shoes_ I_ would have done this - just to blow off a bit of steam. It wasn't like there weren't constant such occasions.

"Has he noticed what happened yesterday?" now Beth addressed me as well.

"One couldn't see Mick and you, if that's what you mean," I replied. "But we could see Frank and Logan's reaction." I now looked at Mick again. "And I think your name was heard. In any case, Talbot knows that you were present and that you are healthier than you actually should be after being so badly injured."

Mick nodded understandingly and I noticed that his inner tension now came back slowly. "That means he wants to know what's going on with me..."

Now I nodded as well. "... and probably what the Legion has done to you," I added much more quietly. Mick's eyes were fixated on the dirty, holey carpet beneath our feet, and the slight twitch of his cheek muscles told me that this was certainly not an issue that he wanted to talk about with Talbot.

"Listen," I said softly and bent slightly towards him so that my elbows rested on my thighs, "I didn't promise Talbot anything and I can certainly stall him for quite a while before he starts whining. I would be the last person to force you to talk to him..."

Mick gave a slight nod and ran a hand down the back of his head and across his nape. Only then he seemed to be able to look at me again.

"I'll manage this somehow...," he said lowly, "... someday..."

"Do you think he now knows that he's dealing with vampires?" Beth asked me worried, and again I was forced to lift my shoulders.

"I'm not sure," I admitted reluctantly. "But he is an intelligent man, and there were already so many hints..."

A soft sigh was heard from Frank's direction, and he sank heavily down into the other unoccupied armchair. "That's all my fault. I'm such a scatterbrain..."

"Yeah, you are," came quite loosely over my lips," but I think he had already guessed that much earlier. Who knows if the Legion has really only spoken about demons. Maybe he only used that word, to protect himself against us."

"He wouldn't believe it," Mick tossed in confidently. "Even if _I_ would tell him."

"At least he would need a plausible explanation for this," Beth added.

"Which is here," Frank intervened immediately.

"Which we certainly won't force on him," I said very clearly, and looked sternly at the professor, who instantly shrank quite sheepishly into his chair. "Sometimes I really wonder whose side you're on, good Lord!"

It was not a serious question and Frank seemed to understand it and kept silence. But even if he had wanted to answer, he would have hardly been able to for now Logan reappeared in the living room, followed closely by his best and pretty excited friend Seth.

Beth was only too willing to make room for them on the couch by simply slipping closer to Mick and in doing so unintentionally drew his attention. His eyes stuck a bit too long at the low neckline of her shirt to still pass off as harmless, and the expression in his eyes confirmed once more my suspicion that during my absence, something had awakened between my two friends that I actually had wanted to keep bottled up for a while. At this point in time it was really inconvenient... inconvenient, but not unexpected.

Logan sat down at once on the couch, while Seth was content to sit down on the alarmingly creaking armrest. Five pairs of eyes now rested on my face and waited anxiously for what I had to report. And there was so much to tell that I did not know where to begin.

"Is this Pandora's box?" Logan divested me of the difficult initiation as he bluntly pointed at the briefcase next to me and just addressed one of the main topics.

"I hope not," I replied with a small smile. "But at least this will be your main reading material for the next few hours. And I warn you: There are only a few CD-ROMs in between. Most of it is paperwork..."

Logan grimaced in disapproval.

"... but wasn't it you that wanted to lead the operation _Eagle Cry_?"

Now he was vexed with visible pain. "Eagle _Eye_! _Eye_!"

"... so you'll just have to bite the bullet and reacquaint your fingers with the turning of pages."

"Do you really think that you can trust this man?" Beth asked, while I handed Logan the briefcase. She bent forward a bit to me, not knowing that she was again throwing Mick completely off the track in doing so, because she was now bestowing him with a much deeper insight into her neckline than before.

"To be honest, I have no idea," I admitted freely. "The Legion is wise. It may well be that everything is just a big scam and they want to lure us into a trap. Maybe it's in fact just a part of the Legion that is playing us off against the other part and tries to make the best of the whole thing for itself. Or the man is telling the truth. I just don't know. But we have no other choice right now than to verify his statements and then use this contact preferably to our advantage."

"Have_ you_ ever seen him before?" Logan addressed Peterson and Mick. The question was not really necessary, because as far as I could remember, Ritchcroft and Frank had even greeted each other in our Internet conference by their first names. So it didn't surprise me that Frank responded with a nod and Mick... Mick had not really noticed that Logan had spoken to him. He was much too absorbed with the sight of Beth's cleavage.

"Mick?" I spoke to him directly now, and could hardly bite back my grin. My friend quickly lifted his eyes and blinked at me slightly confused. "Have you ever seen Ritchcroft before?"

If he was embarrassed, he didn't let it show, but he still had considerable difficulty concentrating and needed a moment to answer this not so really intellectually challenging question. Well, this indeed sounded like fun in the near future...

"No," he finally managed to say. "Anyhow, I can't remember him."

"And you know him?" Logan addressed Frank, frowning.

"'Know' is not the right word here," the professor wriggled a bit. "He was maybe twice in my office, but never really in the treatment rooms."

"But he did say that he was responsible for the management of this... this whole thing," Logan tried to remind all of us.

"That doesn't necessarily mean that he would always have to be present," Seth intervened with a quite precocious tone of voice and in doing so annoyed his friend visibly. "The politicians of our country govern most things from their desks."

"I know this, too," Logan growled back. "But if Mick or Frank knew him more precisely, perhaps they could confirm that at least his personal data are true!"

"It's only important that you evaluate the material," I turned to Logan to nip in the bud, the oncoming conflict between the two, "and especially pinpoint how useful it is for us. If the man has passed worthless information to us, then he's definitely not to be trusted."

"What kind of information would indeed be particularly valuable to us?" Logan asked immediately and let himself no longer be distracted by his friend, who crossed his arms over his chest clearly miffed.

"Information about the organization of the Legion, about their future plans and tactical strategies. All names and addresses we can find... and not to forget... " I reached into my jacket pocket and brought out the thick bundle of cloth, which during the entire flight had given me a little discomfort. I slid the shabby and barely repaired coffee table between us, closer, and unfolded the cloth a bit and let two long silver bullets fall down on the table.

"... everything that concerns their latest weapons," I finished my sentence.

For a long moment there was gloomy silence between us. I noticed that Mick tensed up and Logan inhaled with a hiss, but then Beth raised her voice.

"Is this silver?" she asked, worried, and I just nodded. A split second later I could hardly believe my eyes, because Mick suddenly breathed in deeply, bent forward and took one of the dangerous bullets into his bare hand.

"They melt when they come in contact with body heat and the silver is released directly into the bloodstream," he said quietly and not only baffled me with his knowledge. Under my widening eyes he closed his hand around the treacherous ammunition, presumably to show the described effect to the now shocked Beth. I felt the strong urge inside me to immediately hit the bullet out of his hand, but my body was frozen, while my mind first had to process what it was seeing. For the contact with the silver didn't seem to have any effect on him. He looked unchanged, not dazed or racked with pain - even when he opened his hand again and we could clearly see that a thin silver film had spread out on his palm, nothing in his physical condition had changed.

"Look," he said, and held out his hand to the now impressed Beth.

I was speechless. Again. But this time I was not alone. Except for Peterson all of the others were so shocked by the little spectacle before our eyes, that they were tongue-tied.

"Silver doesn't bother Mick that much anymore," Peterson tried to ward off my oncoming nervous breakdown, successfully, because his next words could indeed calm me a bit. "This has to do with his altered DNA. Unless it gets directly into his bloodstream, it hurts him as much as any other normal human."

"You're resistant against it?" Logan was the first of us vampires who found his voice again and Mick easily shrugged his shoulders.

"More or less," he admitted reluctantly, but could not keep eye contact and instead stared at his hand again.

"Wicked!" it burst out of Seth impressed. "Have you any weaknesses at all?"

"No," Mick replied quite seriously, and laid the bullet back onto the table. "My skin is as impenetrable as a steel tank and when you chop off my head I instantly grow a new one."

Seth's eyes got as big and round as a tennis ball. "Really?"

"Yeah, sure." I was surprised at how Mick was able to say that without laughing. "And if there's no helicopter nearby, I just need to concentrate on my back and instantly wings are growing out of it."

I heard a faint, amused "_Mick_!" from Beth's direction and felt reassured that Seth, at least at this remark, stumbled and realized that Mick was pulling his leg, otherwise I would have had to sift through his things for drugs.

"Well," I tried to get the conversation back to a normal level and at the same time decided to ask Mick in separate private conversation where he got the information regarding the munitions. "Since all others have not developed a resistance to silver, we should in any case follow up on this new ammunition, because it is quite dangerous for us." I now turned directly to Frank. "I know you're a doctor and not an arms expert, but do you think you and August can find out what the deal is with this ammunition and how we can fight this silver solution in the bloodstream?"

The professor thought for a moment and then nodded slowly. "I can try in any case..."

"Anyhow, that's something," I said and then looked at Logan whose eyes were still stuck on Mick, in full fascination. "I think that this will not be the only weapon that the Legion has newly developed. So you should keep a eye out for any possible information in this direction, Logan."

The mention of his name brought his attention back to me and his nod told me that he had been listening.

"And I need this information preferably by tomorrow evening," I added. My words made not only Logan sit up but the others as well.

"What... what is tomorrow evening?" Beth asked alarmed.

I took a deep breath. "A meeting with some important vampires has been arranged," I admitted reluctantly.

"That soon?" Horror was written in Beth's eyes and I raised a hand in a calming gesture.

"Not here and not because of Mick..." In any case, not _only_ because of Mick, but I would certainly not tell her this.

"In LA?" Her mind worked as well as ever. "Do the other vampires bring trouble upon you?"

"No trouble I can't get a grip on," I said and almost believed it myself. "They felt let down by me and just want to know what's going on and what we're planning. I think they're a bit afraid. The Legion is pressuring them badly."

It was Mick, who put me off my stride completely for the second time that day. "Shall I come with you?"

My head flew around to him and I looked at him with wide eyes. "No!" I uttered a bit too loud. "Absolutely not!" What a crazy idea!

"Josef ... basically it's about me..."

"Not only!" Woops! Now it was out. "I... You're not ready for this yet..."

He lifted his shoulders slightly. "I'm feeling much better..."

"Yeah, one could really see this by yesterdays..." The remark was out, before I had even thought about it, and it directly hit the mark. The hurt expression in Mick's eyes stung me as well and Beth gave me a puzzled, censorious glance.

"Of course you are making progress," I tried to reduce the sharpness of my remark a bit, "but most of the vampires who will be present tomorrow are selfish assholes who would ruthlessly make mincemeat of you, Mick. I can not allow this to happen."

He looked at me. The small pain my remark had caused was still sitting too deep, but he nodded understandingly. In an affectionate gesture Beth put a hand on his, caressing the back of his hand with her thumb and I saw him taking in a deep breath and exhale.

"Quite apart from that, I think there's not a lot of time before _He_ appears here with his followers," speaking again to all my friends. "The Legion causes so much trouble in the community that it's only a matter of time until one of them freaks out. _He_'s certainly as conscious of this as we are."

"And what does this mean for us?" Beth asked worried.

"That we must start to prepare ourselves for _His_ arrival," I replied and again searched Mick's gaze. He lifted his head as he felt me looking at him and I knew that he immediately understood what I would demand of him. But it was the determination in his eyes to support me in every way, despite my hurtful remark before, that allowed me to indeed voice it. "You have to start working with the vampire in you Mick. You have to consciously transform and change back again, and, while doing this, to give the impression that you have at all times full control over your mind and body. Otherwise we have no chance to survive all that healthy."

"But... but that's not possible at the moment," the professor stammered and I looked at him almost angrily.

"Why not?"

"Because he's currently in a sensitive condition and first his balance has to level off again."

"But we don't have any time for that!" This news didn't please me at all.

"If he transforms constantly his vampire hormones will gain too much of an upper hand," Peterson made a stand against me. But he had no chance. I had developed my plans already in-flight. It couldn't be helped anymore.

"Then we need to use the meds again," I heard myself say, and could hardly believe it myself. "We have no time to give his natural processes time to unfold. We unfortunately have to put it off for now."

"But…"

"Frank!" Mick's raised his hand to stop him, and shook his head to make it quite clear, to keep silent. Then he looked at me again. His determination had not decreased. Quite the contrary - it was almost even greater than before. "When shall we start?"

Everything inside of me rebelled against this hasty precautionary measure and my lips compressed as if they had developed a life of their own and wanted with all their might to prevent the words that were on my tongue from coming out of my mouth. But my emotional side had no chance against my reason.

"Today at best," I said lowly, and could see how Beth averted her face from me, showing me how sad and angry Mick's and my decision made her. But she also knew that we had no other choice. That was the only reason she remained silent.

For a long moment the ticking of the clock was the only sound that was heard. Then I decided to turn around to Seth and banish this incriminating silence.

"I have a job for you too," I said seriously. "I don't want to get caught off guard by anyone. But since it looks like soon a lot of people are going to visit us we should make sure that we are warned in time."

A light glimmered from behind the frame of his round spectacles and then spread over his whole face while his revelation regarding this subject brought him to the right conclusion. "Cameras and motion detectors?" he gasped almost in disbelief.

I smiled. "Can you manage this if I provide you with the necessary materials?"

Seth nodded overzealously and all of a sudden gave a quite nervous impression. "I could even start to tinker around with the material that's already here," he suggested to my great joy.

"Then do it," I encouraged him now smiling much more openly.

"Right now?"

I nodded and Seth jumped up and disappeared so quickly that he even amazed an old vampire like me.

"You really expect considerable trouble, don't you?" Logan asked. He didn't seem to feel that comfortable with this idea. I could guess it by simply looking at him.

"Trouble we can avoid, if we are quick and thoroughly enough," I replied seriously. "And that is why you should now get to work."

"Are we done with the meeting?" he probed but stood up yet. My nod was enough for him to leave us almost as quickly as Seth and I really appreciated it. When in need, one could even count on this little sloth.

For me, though, there was still a very unpleasant part to attend to. I was not surprised that Mick looked at me attentively as I turned back to him. During the long time of our friendship we had learned to read each other's body language like the pages of a book and mine seemed to tell him that I still was not through with him. There was something else to talk about, something which caused me much discomfort.

Peterson had already gotten up but he stayed next to the couch when he noticed our exchange of gazes.

"I know that I have already burdened you with this transformation-thing, Mick," I said softly, and Beth looked at me, now frowning, "but I unfortunately have to ask something else, that…" - Where were the right words when you needed them? – "... you won't like. Actually, I still would like to have waited for a while, but... because of our situation..."

"_Josef!"_ Mick looked at me urging. Sometimes he simply had no patience - which in this situation was perhaps understandable.

I once again had to take a deep breath before I could go on, and my unease increased. "I... I need to know what happened to you the day you disappeared – in every detail." I heard Beth sucking in the air through her nose, tensed, and quickly went on. "And not only that. I need as many dates and places as possible about the time you were in the hands of the Legion, so that I can check if Ritchcroft is really telling the truth. I don't need any descriptions of the things they've done to you. My concern is just to construct a halfway usable temporal sequence of the events... and now. Do you think you can do this?"

Mick bravely kept up the eye contact with me and finally nodded, although I could see in his eyes, how difficult it was for him. But even he was aware that I would not ask him, if it weren't absolutely necessary.

"I need you too, Frank," I said to the professor. The old man took a deep breath and returned to his seat.

My eyes went to Beth, whose worries had increased to an absolute maximum. That I, and especially Mick, would need her went without saying. And I was sure that she was thinking the same thing: Maybe with this unwanted conversation we could initiate the first training session for better control over Mick's vampire-self...


	45. Between rage and hope

_*__Hello again! Here's the new chapter for all of you. Thanks again for the feedback (Hi Marcy, great to get a feedback from someone new! Feel hugged!). I really need this because there are still a few long chapters to translate and at the moment there are not so many people anymore who are helping me with the translations. So I really need your feedback to spur me. Hope, I can keep the posting-rhythm. But I'm sure to be able to post the next chapter at Sunday again. See you then, yours Jenna*_

_P.S. A big hug to Jo, who was the beta for this chapter! You're great!_

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**B****etween rage and hope**

_Beth had not slept or eaten in more than 24 hours. Simone had made her a hot tea half an hour ago and had put it in front of her on the table. Meanwhile, it had gotten cold but had lost none of its volume. She just could not get it down as long as the cold claw of fear kept her innards imprisoned in such a tight grip. Instead, her eyes were fixated on the open door to Mick's office where she watched Josef restlessly pacing up and down. He was as upset as she was and let the person to whom he was talking with on the phone clearly feel it. His tone was unusually rude and impatient, and as he was excitedly walking back and forth, he kept nervously running his hand across his face or neck. Mick's mysterious disappearance seemed to weigh more heavily on his nerves than Beth had assumed or as she would have wished. _

_Who she needed at her side was someone who could calm her down, who could tell her that everything was not so bad and would turn very soon for the better. Someone who would be able to ease this simmering feeling inside her that told her that something bad had happened to Mick. But there was no one like that currently in her vicinity. Simone had started a half-hearted attempt to convince her that all would come out all right, but one look into her brown eyes had been enough to tell Beth that the young lawyer didn't really believe it. Mick had been away too long to keep up the hope that he would walk happily through the door at any moment. _

"_You look so tired, Beth," she heard Simone's quiet voice and turned her face reluctantly to Josef's girlfriend. __"Why don't you try to sleep for at least a couple of hours?" _

_Beth only managed an exhausted shake of her head before her eyes moved back to Josef. __He had stopped at the door and listened to what the other person in the line had to tell him._

"_Then give me a call as soon as you know more," she heard him say. He hung up, slipped his cell phone into his jacket pocket and came over to them. _

_Beth wanted to ask him if there were some good news but didn't dare out of fear of being disappointed again._

"_And?" asked Simone instead, worried. _

_Josef took a deep breath and sat down next to Beth on the sofa. __Somehow she was under the impression that he looked even more worried than before. __He was remarkably pale even for a vampire and that did not bode well, along with the fact that it took him much too long to answer the question._

"_That was Lieutenant Davis." The significant hesitation in Josef's voice made the pace of her pulse increase within seconds. "They… they've found Mick's car." _

_The icy claw squeezed with all its might, squashing her innards painfully while her heart and her breathing came to a deadlock for a moment. __She did not feel her hand lifting to her mouth and her eyes filling with tears. __Her body was numb and heavy all at once. __  
__She had known it, had known it the whole time… but she hadn't believed it, hadn't been able to believe it. Mick was an intelligent man and so strong. He was a vampire, for God's sake! How could something serious happen to him? _

"_This… means nothing, Beth," Simone's voice filtered down to her as if it was piercing through a thick wall made of wool and Beth only now noticed that the whole time she had been shaking her head in mute despair. _

"_Breathe, Beth!" Josef told her gently and more out of a reflex than willingly she obeyed his command and took a deep breath. __She felt his cool hand on her back moving with gentle pressure up and down with the intent to soothe her but it only caused her so painstakingly restrained tears to run down her cheeks as a silent sobbing __penetrated__ from her __throat. _

_She did not understand why she reacted so violently to this news or why this vague feeling that something bad had happened to Mick increased. It was only his car and not his body they had found. Simone was right: it still meant nothing! _

_Beth quickly wiped the tears from her cheeks, closed her burning eyes, swallowed hard and tried again to take a deep breath in order to calm down. _

"_The good thing about this is that they will now really search for him," she heard Josef say and she was able to discern a slight tremor in his voice that inadvertently betrayed his own turmoil. "He's now officially reported as missing." _

_Beth lifted her eyelids and looked at Josef. His eyes reflected her fears and worries. __"Was…" Beth had to clear her throat because her voice didn't seem to want to obey her, "… was there any indication in his car that he…" She trailed off. __She could not voice it. _

_Josef did it for her: "… is dead?" He shook his head and a whole mountain range fell from Beth's heart. "No blood and no signs of a struggle. At least not in the car." _

"_Where… where did they find it?" _

_Josef hesitated for a moment. "In a field outside the city." _

_Beth's innards contracted anew. Mick had not driven the car intentionally into the field. Either he had been forced off the road, or… someone had brought the car there after he had overpowered and abducted Mick. Please! Please, let him only be abducted! Maybe soon someone would call and claim a ransom from Josef. He was a wealthy man and Mick was his best friend. That was quite possible. __Josef would just pay and then they would get Mick back or they would find out where he was and simply get him themselves. __Josef certainly had a lot of other vampire friends who could take over the job. __All they needed was a sign of life from him, something that could give them an idea what had happened. __Nothing was as bad as this agonizing uncertainty. _

"_Beth…" Josef gave her a cautious gaze. __His fear that she might have a nervous breakdown was probably quite large. __"We… we should assume that Mick is in considerable trouble." He wrinkled his brow about his own words. __"Which, actually, is nothing new," he added. __"But it looks as if this time he's not able to get out of it on his own." _

"_I… I just should have gone with him," Beth replied with a trembling voice and shook her head. "Then it wouldn't have happened." She should not even have let him go without an exchange of information. How could she have been so stupid? _

"_You don't know," Josef contradicted her immediately. __"Probably you would be missing as well now, and I would have to worry about the both of you." _

"_I'__ve so often in the past been a big help to him," she whispered and needed to fight back the tears yet again. _

"_Yes, but this time it's probably better that you're sitting here beside me, Beth," Josef tried to comfort her. "I need your wit and intuition to find him. Can I count on it?"_

_Beth pressed her lips tightly together to get the tremor of her chin under control and then nodded bravely. She now had to be strong. Not only to help Josef with all her might but also for Mick. Mick needed her… wherever he was. _

* * *

Beth felt as if she woke from a long-lasting dream. It took a while until she recognized her own face in the fogged mirror of the bathroom in front of her, until the gurgling of the water from the tap reached her ears and she registered that she was not in Mick's apartment but in a small, shabby farmhouse in Mexico. She absentmindedly held her already rinsed toothbrush in one of the hands she had propped up on the edge of the sink and was frozen like a freshly-made marble statue. It was really amazing how far memories could sometimes catapult you out of the here and now.

She blinked a few times to really wake up again, put her toothbrush in the glass that stood on the small cupboard next to the sink, and then looked back into the mirror. Her hair was still quite wet from the shower, stuck to her head and enhanced her very pale face. The last hours had pretty much worn out her nerves and she looked it with dark rings beneath her eyes and a stressed line around the corners of her mouth. The journey back into the past that Josef had initiated had not only strained Mick's nerves, but also hers. There was so much out of this terrible time that she had pushed to the back of her mind, so many stirring feelings she really could not use at the moment, much less allow herself to feel. It was not only Mick who had to digest a trauma.

Josef had proceeded in an incredibly ingenious and compassionate manner concerning Mick's repressed memories. He had barely given his memory time to conjure up the nightmarish images that maybe would have instigated an escalation of the situation, but had gained, through specific questions and evading the gruesome details, only the important facts that he needed at this time from Mick. When Mick had given the impression that his nerves could not bear up against the questions any longer, Josef had abruptly cut the whole thing short and adjourned it. And once again Josef had confirmed what Beth had felt on several occasions over the past year: At the bottom of his heart Josef was a compassionate, warm-hearted man who loved his best friend to death.

Beth had to admit that the new knowledge of Mick's fate, despite the bad memories that it evoked in her, did her good. It brought a little light into the darkness which twined around the last year and helped her to better understand the new developments and their particular situation. During his investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Frank Peterson Mick had been able to quickly find out a lot of things. And that was because he not only Logan but behind his back had put another 'hacker' on this case. Sam, Beth's hacker-colleague from BuzzWire had been able to get information from one of the safest databases in the world and it had stuck in his mind. It had also been Sam who had put him onto the 'Jefferson' trail. Gradually Mick had learned that the 'Peterson' case was not only very tricky but had also gained with each newly revealed detail a greater importance for the whole vampire society. He had learned through Peterson's two students that the professor had worked with vampire blood and had been supported in his work by Jefferson and the Henderson & Field Company. So Mick had taken a closer look at this company.

As he had left his home and Beth that day, he had gone to one of the warehouses of the Henderson & Field Corporation. Terence who, because of an acute lack of money, had asked Mick to work for him had been very upset on the phone and had told him that he had come across the bodies of several vampires and also humans. The biggest problem was, however, that someone had locked him in the room with the corpses and he could not break free on his own. Already at this time Mick had been aware that he was messing with a larger organization, and that this whole thing was taking on a scale and a degree of danger he couldn't handle on his own. Even though he often did quite unreasonable things, on this very day he had only wanted to free Terence for whom Mick had felt responsible, and to then ask Josef and his powerful friends for help to prepare the next steps carefully.

The warehouse had been remarkably quiet and empty as he had entered it through an open window and his instinct had instantly told him that something was wrong. However, his need to help Terence had hoodwinked him into ignoring his inner voice and he still looked for his friend. He had been cautious and for this reason and because of his highly sensitive senses the plan of the Legion hadn't really worked out. He had been able to smell the presence of several people and the fact that he hadn't been able to see them had told him very quickly that they were waiting hidden for something or someone. At this point in time Mick had not known exactly with whom he had tangled or that the mercenaries who had been lurking in the warehouse were equipped with weapons that could easily quash his vampire superiority. This was the only reason that he had sneaked up on his opponents rather than taking to his heels. He even had been able to silently take two of them out. But then he had found Terence, or rather his corpse. Even at this moment he had not believed that all of the effort had been made because of him or that all the armed men were here to overpower him.

It hadn't been long until the soldiers had noticed the absence of their comrades and had given the alarm. Mick had been quick and quiet, but not fast enough for there had been too many of them and they had used nets and powerful narcotic projectiles. Mick had to have felt like a lion in a rigged hunt and finally they had brought him down. He had been hit by several bullets at once and then the nets had flown down on him.

The soldiers then had taken him to the basement of a larger building, probably one of the laboratories of the _Legion_ in LA and there a few harmless tests had been done on him which had resulted in his first contact with Peterson. Mick had remained in this laboratory about two weeks. The details to this part of the story came more from Peterson because Mick had quickly lost his sense of time during this time of suffering and at this point in their conversation he had slowly but surely become very nervous and agitated. He had then been moved to the other laboratory in LA where he had remained for about eight months until he had been transferred again, this time by helicopter, to the laboratory in the desert of Nevada.

After getting this information and because of Mick's reaction to it, his breathing had greatly accelerated while his eyes had taken on an alarming ice blue color, Josef had canceled the interview and had anxiously waited until Mick had calmed down again under Beth's gentle words and touches. Only then had he announced that they would postpone the continuation of their conversation to a later date and that maybe Mick's presence was no longer needed because Peterson could also answer most of the rest of the questions.

Beth had hoped that Mick would rest after this intense conversation and would have lunch with her, but, due to the state he was in, he had claimed that he needed exercise to blow off some steam and had disappeared soon afterward, despite her protests. She had wanted to follow him but Josef had stopped her. Unfortunately, he had the same opinion as Mick and thought sports and exercise to be _the_ way to get rid of aggression and stress. Also, he thought it was advisable that Mick spend a little time by himself. And to her anger, Peterson had agreed with Josef. Beth had finally given up and had lunch alone.

However, being alone after all the new information Josef had given them wasn't a very pleasant state. As long as Mick was near her Beth was busy taking care that he was doing well and continued making progress, when she wasn't struggling with her own hormones and the needs going along with them. His absence, however, resulted in her own apprehensions and fears daring to come out of the dark corner into which she had banished them. Although she repeatedly tried to convince herself that in the end everything would go well, somehow she was hyperaware of the difficulties and dangers in the not too distant future which were heading toward them all. Again and again her gloomy thoughts drove her back to the danger she feared the most. The fear that made her breathing falter and her heart race when she thought about it. The fear that compressed her insides painfully: the danger of losing Mick again.

She knew that she wouldn't be able to bear it again. She would rather die than have to endure this pain again. She wouldn't allow anybody to take Mick away from her again, to harm him or even to touch him. Maybe she looked like a harmless, soft-hearted woman, but due to a certain time in her past, deep inside of her slumbered a wounded predator which was preparing to lunge out of the shadows to defend without mercy that which it loved.

Beth hadn't been able to eat much and had finally decided to try to dispel her gloom with a cool shower. It hadn't helped much, as she noticed now. Additionally, these sad disturbing memories came to her, as if her subconscious mind was warning her not to forget that her time together with Mick would perhaps be quite limited. Really not very helpful as she was momentarily trying to fight her growing longing for him by all means possible.

Beth ran her hands across her pale face and uttered an abyssal sigh. Why was life sometimes so hard and stressful? Why couldn't Mick have simply met her as a normal human being back then? She was sure that he would still have aroused her interest and that she would have fallen in love with the human Mick as well. Wouldn't she? Well, this extreme pull he had exerted on her since their first meeting might not have been there then, but they would have met in any case. He could have also been a private investigator as a human. An 85 years old private detective! My goodness, she had forgotten this completely. She had to laugh at herself and shook her head. This is what happened when one let oneself play this silly 'what-if-game'. It didn't change the current state and the fears hunting her. Only one thing became clear: that fate sometimes took some strange paths. Perhaps everything had happened as it was_ meant_ to happen. Maybe behind all the suffering they all had gone through there lay a deeper sense they could not yet really recognize. Maybe life wanted to tell them something and they only had to learn to really listen. Maybe... maybe...

Beth sucked the moist air around her deeply into her lungs, squared her shoulders and left the bathroom. A feeling in her stomach told her that it was time now to finally confront Josef. He had asked her for a private conversation and announced that he would wait in the living room for her. She could already imagine what it was about and did not feel particularly comfortable in her skin.

So she was quite astonished when she entered the living room but did not find Josef there. As she had looked around in astonishment, she discovered Seth in the kitchen area moving the glass of blood he had just sipped from behind his back, hiding it from her and trying to give her a friendly smile. He was probably not aware that his teeth showed a suspiciously red color.

"I have no problem with that, Seth," she replied and walked over to him. "Have you any idea where Josef has gone?"

Seth took his glass out again hesitantly and shrugged his shoulders undecided. "Not really. I only know that Mick came in and asked him and Frank to come with him."

Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise and immediately an uncomfortable feeling spread in her guts. "Was he upset?"

Seth took away her first whiff of fear by shaking his head. "Not at all. He looked somehow determined as if he had conceived a plan."

A plan in which he apparently didn't want her to participate, otherwise he would have surely waited for her. Now, also frustration and anger were added to her colorful mixture of feelings. She actually had thought that they had left the time of his evasion and protection mechanisms concerning her behind at last. And now he was doing such things again.

"And where did they go?" Beth asked impatiently. She wouldn't let him keep her out of this so easily.

Seth pointed to the door. "Out. But I don't think they're on the porch anymore."

She cared little. She simply turned on her heels and marched toward the door. "How long ago was that?" she asked Seth over her shoulder.

"Half an hour maybe... but Frank came back after a while and got a bag."

That did not sound good. She tore open the door and stormed outside. This was a lonely region and there were not many places that were suitable for certain experiments that no stranger should be allowed to see. Experiments in which her presence was in fact absolutely necessary to insure that they would not lead to a disaster - dammit!

Beth let her eyes glide over the barren terrain in front of her, the many crippled trees and shallow sand hills, while her thoughts were spinning. It was already pretty hot. The sun was high in the sky and its rays were even burning on her skin. Josef was a full vampire. He needed a shady, cool place, so they could only be... in the barn! Beth jumped down the steps of the porch and just sprinted off. If up to now nothing bad had happened, the three of them would experience a thunderstorm!

* * *

"I think you can release me now."

Mick looked up and to my great joy and relief his eyes were no longer white-blue as they had been a few minutes ago, but had almost taken on their normal color. The color had also returned to his face, a sure sign that the re-transformation back to a human was almost complete. It was amazing what things willpower and hope could sometimes create. My friend had indeed succeeded in what I had not really considered possible in this short period of time: He was able to turn back without outside help. Of course, it still cost him much strength and a high degree of concentration, but it was possible!

Nevertheless, I hesitated to instantly free him from the handcuffs with which he had chained himself with his other hand to the combine harvester that stood in the barn. There had been a long moment in which I myself had been a little afraid of my best friend and strongly doubted that we would be able to calm him down without Beth or the use of the meds. And it was not that long ago.

Mick had assailed me and Frank with his new idea and his hurry and I had at first hesitated to involve myself in it. But his arguments had been too good, his considerations solid and incredibly logical, almost like old times. He still knew how to grab me, and played this card off radically. Of course, I had struggled against also putting him in chains, but when he had transformed, I had finally been pretty happy that he had persuaded me to do it. I did not know which thoughts and images he had used to cause the transformation's necessary rage, but the murderous look in his eyes and his clear movement towards Frank had confirmed my suspicion that it must have been some pretty horrible memories of things that had been done to him by the doctors of the Legion. I was not sure whether Frank would have survived this experiment if Mick had not been kept in check by the handcuffs. The vampire had fairly rampaged and had thrown himself forwards so violently pulling and tearing at the chain that I had been afraid he would break his own arm. But that had not happened. The handcuffs had little give in them, for the steel bonds came from the arsenal of the Legion, who had obviously made sure that they could even withstand the tremendous forces of a vampire.

Only when Mick's strength had ceased a bit and his fury had begun to slowly evaporate had he been able to activate his mind and to work on his new self-imposed goal: to get the vampire out of its state of alert and into a mode that equated to the cool, controlled state in which all the other vampires were for most of their lives, without the white glowing eyes and bared fangs.

"The problem is not the vampire in me," he had told me previously, surprisingly energized as he had returned from his 'little walk', a bit sweaty but full of newly developed enthusiasm, "but the state in which he is when I transform. I jump automatically into a state of extreme combat readiness rather than becoming the relatively controlled vampire I had been once. I must get a grip on _this_!"

It had not been entirely clear to me how Mick had come to this realization but it seemingly got to the heart of the whole problem I realized in the moment when he said it and for a tiny moment I was slightly annoyed that this idea hadn't come to _my_ mind. I now had to probably wait a while before I could praise my keen intellect in Mick's presence again because of it.

With this new plan Mick had also developed an amazing vigor and a large dose of hope that drove him to want to take action on the spot and brought Frank and me into the uncomfortable situation of taking over the roles of his henchmen. That his haste, in addition to the pressure the approaching vampire meeting was causing him, was also linked to his rapidly evolving relationship with Beth, was immediately clear to me. It was only natural that he wished to be able to get close to her without limitations and fears. But because she had been such a wonderful help and he mainly owed his rapid progresses to her efforts, I did not initially understand why he didn't want to have her next to him during his self-experiments until he laid a few more impressive reasons on the table.

Now here we were standing in the barn, and in spite of the surprising success of this ad hoc action, I didn't really dare to free Mick from his handcuffs just yet. There was a hollow feeling in my chest that told me that it was better to wait for a little while. It was quite possible that it was connected to the fact that my friend simply still smelled too strongly of vampire, or that I couldn't really determine the look that Mick was now once again casting in Frank's direction. Perhaps he only wanted his help, because his body was shaken by a mild tremor. Or maybe there was still a small portion of the deadly hatred left that the vampire had shown to the doctor only a few minutes ago. But I definitely didn't want to take any risks, and Frank was probably of the same mind, because I noticed from the corner of my eye that the professor shook his head almost imperceptibly.

Mick's eyebrows drew together a little annoyed. "Josef?"

"I think ...," I began cautiously, but stopped at once because I suddenly felt the presence of another person I really hadn't expected to appear here now. I turned to the only door of the barn, a frown on my face as it opened almost at once with a loud creak.

"What the hell are you doing here?" it burst out of me angrily, even before Hendrik had entered the barn.

The small, beefy vampire appeared to be only slightly impressed by my anger, but approached us with a very provocative smile on his lips. I felt how Mick tensed beside me, sucking air into his nose, and gave him a worried look. My friend's eyes fixated on our new 'guest' in a way that I did not like, as if he had found, with his entrance, a new object on which he could steer all his bottled-up hatred and that he'd love nothing better than to shoot him down in flames. If I wasn't mistaken, Mick's eyes were already brighter again. I decided to counteract his re-transformation my own way and just walked with a deterrent gesture towards Hendrik.

"Is there any reason why you have ever felt invited to attend our little meeting," I smiled artificially, "or is it only due to a slight malfunction of your not really well-working mind, Hendrik?"

Well, maybe it was not a very diplomatic wording, but it suited my emotional needs. At least no one could say that I wasn't honest. I even managed to put my arm around Hendrik's shoulders reluctantly. This was roughly equivalent to having to overcome my feelings to lovingly tickle the belly of a cockroach as I tried to direct him toward the exit, but the insolent fellow, to my great annoyance, freed himself from my grip and glared at me angrily.

"Lance is a little unhappy that you always try to keep me out of everything," he dared to growl at me while I had to fight against the pressing feeling to just grab him by the collar and catapult him out of the barn.

"I have received the order not to let you shake me off and to demand all information from you that I need to report the latest developments to him," he continued, glancing past me over to Mick. "Seems like I appeared at just the right time. What exactly are you doing here?"

He tried to get past me and to head for Mick, whose body was so tense, as if he wanted to take a fatal leap at any moment. I made a big step backwards and blocked the path of the cockroach Hendrik. "We're talking - nothing more."

"And why is he chained up," it said with raised eyebrows and seemed to feel _very_ smart.

I acted surprised, shortly eyed up my panting and very angry friend who had considerable difficulty not to mutate back into the wild beast, and then I turned to Hendrik in astonishment. "Indeed ... I did not even notice this."

My statement confused him considerably. He was for a few seconds dumbfounded and blinked a few times confused, thus showing me how limited his mind actually was. Why did Lance bother with such vampires? The man was even beneath Logan's dignity...

"Do... don't try to shit me, Josef," Hendrik managed to utter with an enormous mental effort. I almost felt sorry for this poor, intellectually challenged creature, as he admonishingly raised one of his short, thick fingers. "I... I won't put up with that any longer! So, explain to me, for fuck's sake, what you're doing here! Or I'll have to inform Lance about your unwillingness to cooperate with us. And then we'll see who here has the final say in the end with regard to your friend and all other related matters."

In former times I would have tried to take this, unfortunately, not harmless threat with humor, but my nerves were too thin and my anger too great to revive the Kostan sarcasm again. Instead, I clenched my teeth so tightly that a slight crunch was heard, grabbed the surprised Hendrik by his collar and pulled him close to me so abruptly that our noses almost touched. I became aware that Frank who had witnessed the whole event so far only in silence, lifted a hand to his mouth in shock and held his breath. But he didn't dare to interfere yet.

"Don't you dare to threaten me, my friend!" I hissed through gritted teeth and I couldn't prevent that I instantly transformed, too, as my fury was now strongly boiling inside me. "The agreement between me and Lance will not last long, I can promise you that right now. And I can be very unforgiving!"

Hendrik really tried to show no fear to me but he forgot how old I was and on what a great wealth of experience I could draw. I could smell the fear which soon came out of all of his pores, could feel this energetic prickling that emanated from every creature when it was preparing for a run or a fight.

"Let go of me, Josef," he growled as lowly as I and the suppressed fear now had also reached his eyes.

"Yeah, let him go, Josef," I heard another voice behind me. Its strangely gentle sound drove a cold chill down my spine and with great unease I threw a glance over my shoulder.  
Mick's posture had changed. He stood quietly, almost relaxed, in front of the combine and met me with a fake friendly smile, while his bright blue eyes radiated so much cold and calculated deceit, that my best friend suddenly appeared like a sinister stranger to me. He had indeed transformed, but surprisingly he was not in attack mode, but had managed, despite the recent stress, to get himself into the normal state of a vampire, one that was to me a totally alien vampire. That was not the Mick, whom we had lost a year ago.

"He doesn't bother me," he added and really sounded as if he meant it. No one but me noticed that he was only pretending. Whatever Hendrik had perpetrated in my absence had made this new side of Mick pretty angry and his current behavior did not make it better, for it threatened Mick's future more than that of anyone else here. My friend breathed vengeance, I could clearly feel it. There could be no talk of control, even if Mick gave a much different impression than usual. The vampire had perhaps his feral, wild side under control, but Mick, the human with scruples and conscience, had not really any say at the moment.

I let go of Hendrik and pushed him a bit away from me. "You'd better go," I said emphatically, looking at him intently. But this idiot stuck his chin towards me defiantly instead of accepting my wise advice. "He says I don't bother him!"

'Of course, because he would love to take his anger out on you and mangle you, you smart alec!' It was difficult for me to bottle up these words, but at least _I_ was the master of my emotions and only snorted contemptuously.

"I would love to sit down with you and talk a little bit about all of this calmly," Mick smiled false as a snake. "Only someone would need to remove this annoying piece of jewelry." He lifted his arm and rattled a bit with the handcuff to emphasize his words.

Hendrik in fact proved that there was not a total vacuum in his head, because he knitted his brows slightly and showed the first signs of distrust.

"Why were you fastened anyway?" he asked again.

"Purely a precautionary measure," Mick said, "it's completely useless. Everything's all right with me."

I certainly didn't give a very bright impression considering the way I stood in front of my friend and stared at him in disbelief with my mouth open. This slyness and deadly calculation which I could now sense perfectly clearly began to slowly but surely unsettle me deeply. It frightened me much more than the wild, aggressive vampire, who had previously always appeared. The memories of the time in the lab Mick had used to transform had apparently stirred something inside him that made his darkest and most dangerous side crawl out of the depths of his soul, a side which acted with cool determination and a razor-sharp mind and no longer permitted emotions like pity and compassion. If I thought more exactly about it, this almost manic side of him wasn't totally unknown to me. I had already experienced it a few times in our long friendship, whenever bad things had happened to Mick, when innocent people had died and the killer instinct had woken up in him, which usually had instigated a bloody revenge. Only Mick had previously never been so traumatized and had calmed down again and had finally become the gentle, compassionate man that he really was.

"You... you're a normal vampire again," the cockroach came, unsurprisingly, to only a halfway correct conclusion and indeed stepped a bit closer to Mick, whose eyes at once glimmered with joy .

I grabbed Hendrik by the arm and tried to pull him back, but the idiot eluded me angrily, ducked me, and in doing so almost brought himself into Mick's reach. Mick's whole body seemed to tense immediately, ready to grab him at the right moment.

This situation was really tricky. I knew that I certainly could appeal to Mick, call on his reason and maybe calm him down with that, but in doing so I would show Hendrik that my friend had not fully gained control over himself yet. I would play information in the hands of our enemies, which they later could use against us. But if I allowed Mick to injure or even kill Hendrik everything was over anyway.

Of course, everything had to get even much more complicated, because suddenly the door to the barn flew open for the second time and an agitated Beth arrived on the scene. She stopped confused and tried to capture what exactly was happening here as quickly as possible. Of course her gaze had gone to Mick and the handcuffs that chained him to the combine. One couldn't blame her for this sight stirring her up quite strongly, for she lacked the necessary information she needed to comprehend what was happening.

"What exactly is going on here?" she asked as calmly as possible and walked quickly toward us.

"They're only talking," Hendrik repeated my earlier words in a slightly mocking tone and I resisted the urge to casually ram my elbow into his face only with great difficulty. His nose was so beautiful at this level.

To my great joy Beth completely ignored the yucky insect. Instead, she fixated on Mick again, who, I quickly noticed, had clearly lost his train of thought at the sight of Beth. His gaze flickered and his eyes reflected the inner struggle his new vampire side and the human side immediately waged. Maybe Beth's appearance belonged to the category of 'happy turn'.

"Why are you chained?" Beth unfortunately addressed Mick directly and I felt forced to block her way that directly lead to my once again very nervous looking friend. I was afraid that she, in her concern, would get the bad idea to untie him.

"Not now, Beth," I whispered to her and her eyebrows pushed together, immediately suspicious. But she asked me no further questions about this, as if she was feeling that the situation was getting too hot.

Hendrik unfortunately, had similarly good hearing and approached us, under Mick's disapproving wheeze.

"What do you mean by 'not now'?" he asked, almost aggressively. "You let a _human_ in on all your plans and leave us other vampires out in the cold? Huh?"

I gave the cockroach a frown and began to count to ten inwardly, to avoid going nuts and putting Mick's previous plan immediately into action. Unfortunately, Hendrik did not belong to the patient type of vampires. My silence made him so angry that he indeed dared to grab Beth's arm and pull her in front of me. "What makes the doll so precious to you, huh?"

I could not respond to his question, for a dull rumbling behind me caused me to spin around exactly at the moment when Mick threw himself with all his strength into his chains, stretching out his arm for Hendrik's neck and missing him only by a few inches because the shocked man with the aid of his vampire capacity for reaction dodged aside just in time. But it was not this act that made my pulse stop for a few seconds, but rather what my eyes believed to have just seen; namely, that the combine had moved slightly.

"Don't touch her!" Mick uttered between gritted teeth and his white-blue eyes almost glowed with anger. He threw himself forward again as Beth's attempt to free herself from Hendrik's firm grip was unsuccessful. By now I believed that Hendrik was only holding fast to her out of fear and now I was _sure_ that the several tons of heavy machine had moved. Fortunately for his own good Hendrik didn't miss it this time and this impressive demonstration of physical strength brought about an effect: the cockroach let go of Beth's arm and just stared at Mick with wide eyes and an open mouth. I had to admit that I didn't look any different, nor did Frank, whose mouth opened and closed again and again in silent amazement.

The only one of us who was capable of acting in any way was Beth. And she did something I did not expect at all. She used my frozen astonishment to simply push past me and step up to Mick. I reacted in a somewhat delayed way and reached for her, but Mick was faster. Beth let out a surprised sound, as he grabbed her arm and she flew in the next moment against his chest.

"Mick! Don't!" I blurted out in horror, but to my own surprise, in spite of his uncontrolled rage he didn't immediately sank his fangs into her neck or harm her in any way, but pushed her behind his back and planted himself protectively in front of her with outstretched arms growling at us with hostility.

I blinked a few times to make sure that I could believe my eyes. The girl had been right: even the vampire Mick, as dangerous and unpredictable he was for most people and vampires, wanted to protect Beth. He loved her as much as his human alter ego.

"Mick... don't ...," I could hear Beth repeat my words a bit more tender and I saw how she tried to pass the wall his tense body was building. Without success, it quickly became obvious.

"Now I get it slowly," I could hear Hendrik mumble beside me, and now I couldn't hold back any longer. I grabbed him by the collar again which caused a soft rasping noise beneath my fingers, and bared my teeth with a low growl. My whole body trembled with suppressed rage.

"If you don't immediately bury yourself in the hole you've crawled out from before, I'll guarantee nothing anymore," I hissed, accurately perceiving how quickly Hendrik's pulse was speeding up. "And I don't believe that you are of such an immense value to Lance that he would go to war with me because of your admittedly rather painful, yet easily-digestible death. You are freely exchangeable, my friend!"

I didn't simply let go of him, but gave him such a push that he stumbled backwards several steps and had a hard time remaining on his feet.

"This... this ...," he uttered upset as he managed to steady himself again, but did not dare to continue because the look I gave him made clear how seriously I had meant my words. But maybe it was also due to the fact that Mick was still looking at him so murderously that I wondered how we could ever place the two in one and the same house again.

Hendrik had no other option than to shake his head indignantly and retire. "This will have consequences," he hissed at the door. Then he was gone.

I let out a deep sigh and decided to take care of Mick first, before worrying about Lance's possible reaction to the report of his lackey. So I turned around to Mick, visibly more composed. He had not yet been able to get out of his vampire state of arousal, or to even realize that it was no longer necessary to protect Beth. The young woman tried to push past him once again with soothing words to him, but my over concerned friend pushed her behind his back again with gentle force. At the moment he didn't even seem to really trust me and Frank. This I noticed from the warning gaze he cast at us with his pale blue eyes as we approached him again. I immediately raised my hands soothingly. "Everything's all right again, Mick. He won't come back."

"Go... just go away," he growled at me and stung me with those words a bit. He knew me for so long now and I had previously never given him a reason to lose confidence in me. Of course, this was an exceptional situation, but... it hurt anyway.

"I can't," I replied calmly. "Not as long as you're in this state."

"I'm in... in control of this," he replied, breathing a little bit too heavily for me to believe his words completely.

"Mick ..." This was Beth's voice again and I watched her small hand lying on his arm, striving to make him turn around to her. But his eyes were still resting on my face full of tension. "That's Josef. Your best friend. You know that you can trust him."

Her words seemed to filter through to him. I could see how his mind started to work again, as the rigidity and the aggressive expression in his eyes started to fade. I saw Beth's head appear next to his shoulder. She used his state of distraction to reach a hand around him, grab his other arm and turn him around to her with great effort. Now he _had_ to look at her and I made three crosses inwardly, because I could feel that this was the first step to instigate his re-transformation. Step two immediately followed: Beth laid both hands on his cheeks and stroked his pale face as if there was nothing more wonderful in this world than to look into the face of a murderous super creature. "We don't need the vampire any longer," she said softly and smiled at him lovingly. "All is well again."

Mick closed his eyes and breathed deeply in and out. When he lifted his eyelids his eye color had normalized again. It was just a little bit brighter than usual. Nevertheless, I didn't feel like sighing with relief yet for I sensed what the other two people could not feel in their visible relief: Mick was still a vampire. He had only gotten rid of his battle readiness and calmed down considerably but his smell spoke volumes.

"Would you please free him now?" Beth asked me with slight impatience when she had let go of Mick with a small sigh of relief. That his glance rested much too long on her neck, unfortunately escaped her entirely. Because of this she was of course very surprised that my response to her demand was a shaking of my head.

However, I was much less interested in _her_ reaction than in that of my friend who managed only with difficulty to look away from Beth's main artery and look at me as well. That the hatred and the deviousness which had come over him in Hendrik's presence was no longer to be found in his eyes let the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach subside slightly. He looked almost like the old vampire Mick; somewhat confused about the things that had happened to him and the state in which he was now, but calm and responsive.

"Do _you_ want to explain it to her?" I ventured to ask him.

He hesitated for a heartbeat, and then nodded noncommittally, while Beth's and also Peterson's confusion seemed to grow.

"It ... it doesn't work," he explained somewhat insufficiently and the lines of confusion that had formed on Beth's otherwise smooth forehead got even deeper.

"What do you mean?"

"The fact that he's still a vampire," I helped him, trying to keep the growing concern inside me out of my voice. Was this the thing Frank had warned us against? Apparently it was, because the professor nodded understandingly and walked bravely toward the two.

"I knew it," he said with apparent resignation in his voice. "Now we necessarily have to work with the meds again."

"No!" Beth protested loudly and out of an unconscious reflex it was she who now planted herself protectively in front of Mick. "We can also manage this without the meds!"

"Beth ...," Mick began soothingly, but broke off when Frank who was already shaking his head launched into an explanation.

"This has nothing to do with Mick's psyche, Beth," he said in an unusually strict voice. "He can not turn back into a human right now because he would collapse, and his body knows this. That's the reason why he remains a vampire and if we don't inject him with a preparation that is made especially for him he will weaken further and it will kill him at some point. The balance between his vampire hormones and blocking agents isn't there anymore because of the really fast transformations close behind one another. So we have to help him now from the outside. I've mentioned this to you not long ago, Beth. His balance was already on the rocks anyway."

My young friend and also Mick himself gave the impression that they remembered this conversation and asked no further questions while my own mind had significant problems in following the reasoning of the professor.

Frank put his little black bag with the vials he had brought along on a hay bale which was nearby and began to prepare a syringe, while I wondered if I unintentionally had endangered my best friend's life with my hurry concerning Mick's wild side. Frank had not expressed himself that drastically before, otherwise I would have given the whole thing much more thought. On the other hand we really did not have much more time and did not really have any other choice.

"If he gets this injection now…," I said anxiously.

"... and a few restorative and vitamin injections ...," the professor interrupted me.

"... then ...?" I raised my eyebrows.

"... he'll soon be able to transform into a human again and at the most feel a little tired for a little while."

"That means we don't need to fear for his life?"

To my great relief the Professor shook his head. "He's not yet in a life-threatening condition. The number of his vampire hormones has only grown too strong. We need to reduce them now using the cure and then we have to be careful not to let the blocking agents get the upper hand."

"And if this happens?"

"Then we need to support the vampire hormones again. And so on and so forth until his body is able to manage this all on its own again."

Slowly his babbling began to make sense and it really calmed me down. "These injections have no unpleasant or serious side effects?"

"As I said, just a little tiredness right after the injection," murmured Peterson and drew up the syringe. His eyes flew over to Mick who had been watching him the whole time with an indefinable expression in his eyes, and he looked at him quizzically. "Are you ready?"

Mick glanced at Beth who was still struggling with her own concerns. She had compressed her lips tightly not to voice them. Then he nodded and reached out his arm readily. His dangerousness had in Beth's proximity completely disappeared and I knew that he would do nothing to Frank when the professor stepped up to him to inject him with the cure. However, the queasy feeling in my stomach did not disappear completely although everything didn't seem to look that bad for us, because my vampire senses muttered something to me that I did not want to hear: that Frank Peterson was keeping something a secret.


	46. Proximity

_*__Sunday again and the new chapter for you is ready. I'm still so thrilled by your feedback! I thank you so much for giving me my drugs again… he, he. But really – you're just great and I love to read this again and again. I sent the next chapter to one of my betas and hope she will be able to send it back to me soon, that I can post it at Thursday. See you then, yours Jenna*_

_P.S. This time I need to thank Francis, who translated this chapter and SG6169 who did the beta work. You two are just great! Thanks for your support!_

* * *

**P****roximity**

* * *

_"Distance is the grave of love - proximity and presence is its nourishment." _

_Caroline Böhmer-Schlegel-Schelling_

* * *

Beth had been patient. She had pushed back her questions and her anger, and tried to distract herself by doing something useful with her enforced leisure - for _his_ sake. And how did he show his gratitude after he woke up from his nap? He had just disappeared without a trace, without a word to her, without an explanation for his strange behavior, for his renewed retreat from her.

She didn't understand exactly what had happened, what was driving him to this behavior and it made her sad and angry at the same time. Although this idiotic attempt to come to terms with his transformation without her had held a major risk, it had worked out considerably well. Mick had hurt no one and had proved to everyone, including himself, that he would not lay a finger on her, not even in a great rage. Instead he even protected her. Why did he feel the need to avoid her now?

Well, he had had difficulty in turning back into a human, and this fact had worried not only him but also her and Josef, but with Peterson's help, they had resolved the problem quickly. According to the testimony of the professor, Mick would now even find it rather difficult, for a little while, to mutate back into a vampire - he was more human than ever before and no longer posed a threat to her.

Maybe he just ran away because he knew she would confront him about this experiment on himself. Because he knew that in someway she was mad at him and that their next conversation would definitely not be a pleasant one for him – no matter how calm and collected she had acted in the barn. Eventually it was her opinion that this was the reason Josef barricaded himself in the basement with Logan and why Frank suddenly worked so hard to examine the silver ammo of the _Legion_ so closely. Of course, these were all important tasks that needed to be done. It was just strange that they were all gone the moment there was actually time and space to talk about what had happened.

After Beth had taken a long walk in the warm sun of Mexico - while unsuccessfully keeping an eye out for Mick - she had made dinner in a more frustrated than relaxed state. She had then settled down on the couch in the living room with one of those boring old books about the local wildlife, which had been lying around the house. She hadn't really absorbed what she was reading, because her thoughts kept drifting again and again to this irrational, stubborn half vampire, and so she had needed to read some of the paragraphs several times to understand what they said. So she was still only on page three after almost two hours, when her watchful ears heard footsteps on the stairs to the veranda. Her heart began to beat faster and immediately made a small somersault, as the door opened and the man she already thought lost, entered the room. He froze in his tracks when he discovered her, gave her a somewhat uncertain smile and a faint "Hey" and then hurried straight towards the hall, as if he had something urgent to do.

Beth remained motionless for a moment, sitting on the couch with her mouth open. She had to digest first that even now he showed no willingness to spend a little time with her, and instead fled again. But then the rage boiled up in her again, and with it she started to move her stiff body. She slammed the book down on the rickety table with such a swing that it gave a tortured groan, jumped up and ran after Mick so fast that she reached him in the gloomy corridor before he could disappear into his room.

"Mick, wait!" She commanded in a tone that barely concealed how angry she was, and he indeed stopped in his movement, took his hand off the handle of the door to his room with a surprised expression and turned towards her.

Beth didn't slow down until she was with him and barely resisted the urge to grab his wrist to prevent him from giving her the slip. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried to gather her thoughts under his questioning glance.

"You... You can't do this again," she brought out with a tense voice and he in fact dared to knit his brows in slight confusion.

"Do what?"

"Avoid me, avoid my vicinity... whatever you would call what you're doing..."

The line between his brows got even deeper. He blinked, trying hard to look confused, and a slightly amused line appeared around the corners of his mouth. "I... I'm not doing that," he answered as calmly as possible. Apparently he was not aware how clearly she could feel his growing nervousness.

She uttered an angry laugh. This situation was not new to her. "Looks as if half vampires are even worse liars than vampires..."

And there it was: the telltale look past her, accompanied by a surreptitious bite on the inside of his lower lip.

Ha! Gotcha!

"I... I..." Mick began, but then shook his head resignedly for want of useful words.

"You can't come up with an excuse I would buy, Mick," Beth rose to speak again. "I just don't understand what's the point of... or, wait, no..." She raised a hand, because he already inhaled. "I _can_ imagine it: you just want to protect me and don't really trust the vampire in you." She couldn't keep the irritated tone out of her voice. "I just wonder how, after all that's happened, you still or once again think that you're a threat to me. You protected me even there in the barn when you were a vampire and out of control. I didn't think for even a second that you would harm me, Mick..."

The fact that he again avoided her gaze, turned away with a strange smile and shook his head lightly, confused her so much that she paused in her little speech and frowned angrily.

"That's not it," he said into the silence and now his dark eyes rested on her face. "It's not about what happened in the barn..."

Beth was now completely confused. "No?" What else could force him to stay away from her? "But..." The memories flashed through her like a mild electric shock and caused the blood to rush to her face in seconds. "Oh," was all she could say at first, and Mick dropped his gaze shortly, as he uttered a faint sound that wavered between amusement and embarrassment. To him it had never been easy to admit weaknesses, especially when it came to the subject of self-control.

"I had forgotten about that in all this trouble," Beth said in a faint whisper. That was true, only now the memories were coming back with an intensity that Beth did not like and that brought a glow to her cheeks.

"I wish I could say that as well," Mick muttered and crossed his arms over his chest. Only then did he dare to lift his gaze again, as if this posture could prevent him from coming too close to her.

Beth swallowed hard, because she noticed quite easily that his eyes stuck to her lips for a very long moment. Sometimes she was really an imprudent idiot, for with her act she had produced a closeness to Mick that she actually had wanted to avoid after their intimate moment in the bathroom. And the closeness in the gloomy hallway was ensuring the atmosphere between them all too quickly became charged again. However, Beth wasn't able to put more distance between them. Even her mind was against her today, because it told her that they urgently had to talk about all the new developments that had occurred in the last few hours, before these could drive a wedge between them.

"To spend absolutely no time with each other, is still not the right way to cope with our problem," she finally managed to say in a relatively steady voice.

"I'm not saying that at all," Mick replied equally calm. "I'm just trying to avoid being alone with you."

Beth let out a chuckle. "It's not like you're going to pounce on me when no one else is in the room with us..." The odd glow in Mick's eyes, which followed her words, quickly silenced her. Immediately her pulse jumped up to a level that was no longer appropriate.

"You have no idea what's going on inside me since..." His voice also broke off after these few soft words. His eyes stuck again on her lips, but they managed to break loose after a little while. "I not only have problems with my vampire side, Beth," he added with an alarming hoarseness in his voice, "even the man in me has currently not the slightest mind to be reasonable, no matter how important it is. And the more he gets what he wants, the more he wants."

His eyes again wandered lower so now Beth also crossed her arms over her chest and covered her feminine charms as well as possible. His words and looks caused immediately a yearning pull in her abdomen that she tried to ignore as well as possible. She swallowed hard to remove the lump in her throat. "Well, then ... then we shall see that we're not alone. But I don't want you shut me out of your life, Mick. Not even for a few days."

He had not responded to her statement, and Beth's heart rate increased once more, for despite her precaution his eyes sank into her cleavage again - or perhaps _because_ of the precaution, as she found out when she followed his gaze. Her actions had accidentally pulled the already low cut neckline of her shirt down a small ways, while her breasts rose a little bit under the pressure of her arms, and because of this, she offered a sight that took even her breath away. She dropped her arms in shock and pulled the shirt up as fast as possible, just to register with horror that Mick had subtly decreased the distance between them.

Distraction! They desperately needed a distraction! "And I will not allow you to once again make such a stupid move and work alone at your... your transformation practice," she brought out a little breathless. "What's the point of that anyway?"

It worked. Mick raised his head and made eye contact. "That... I..." He closed his eyes for a moment and it was clearly visible that he tried to boil down his emotions to collect his thoughts. Then he took a deep breath. "There are good reasons..."

Beth waited, but instead of adducing those reasons to her now, he fastened his eyes on the wall just behind her, and remained silent. She raised her eyebrows encouragingly. "Yes?"

His chest rose and fell under a heavy breath. "It's a little..."

She rolled her eyes. "... complicated?"

A small, almost pleased laughter escaped her lips as he nodded. It had been such a longtime since she had heard that last sentence, but it brought so much of the old Mick back, that she'd love nothing better than to hug him for it - an entirely bad idea...

But Mick was quickly able to destroy her high spirits again. "You won't like this," he added, and the expression in his eyes showed significant concern and discomfort.

"I like it even less when you string me along like this," she replied impatiently.

Mick uttered a little sigh. "Okay." Again he took a deep breath and stared at the ground to collect himself. "I... I tried to understand what's going on inside me when I transform into a vampire and I realized that you were right about many things you said." He watched her again and gave a small smile. "As always," he added softly, and in his gaze there was so much affection that a warm shiver ran down her spine. "And I came to the conclusion that it's in _my_ hands how the vampire in me emerges, that I need to learn to get the transformation into a controlled direction and not jump into an aggressive attack state right away."

Beth nodded and wondered at the same time, what he thought she wasn't going to like about this insight.

"The thing is..." He hesitated and once again the wall behind her turned into a very interesting observation object. "I... I need to learn to do this _alone_, without your help."

The sting his words were giving her was painful, but it was nothing compared to the confusion it brought along. "W...why?" she stammered, and her eyebrows went up defiantly. "I mean, of course you need to be able to do this alone some time in the future. But why now? Why, before this... this meeting..." She broke off. Realization hit her with such force that she indeed swayed slightly and had to take a step backwards while her eyes widened in disbelief. "You... you don't want me to be at your side in the meeting!"

His eyes grazed hers only briefly, but that was enough to tell her that she was right. Disappointment and anger mingled inside her to a seething mass.

"You must be kidding!" Her voice was a bit too high to be considered controlled. "For what reason? Are you afraid the other vampires might attack me? Is that it? Now that you no longer have to protect me from you, you want to protect me from all the other bloodsuckers?"

Mick shook his head almost imperceptibly, but she was so sure of her presumption that she didn't even react to it.

"What were you planning?" she spat and didn't care one bit that anger also boiled slowly up in his eyes. "To get me away from here tomorrow or the day after, to hide me somewhere?"

"Beth..."

"_Hide_ is probably the wrong word, because you'll need to lock me up..."

"Beth!"  
"... or do you seriously think that I'll dutifully sit in a quiet little room somewhere, waiting for you to return, while a bunch of degenerated vampires is deciding on your fate?"

"BETH!" It wasn't Mick's volume that put Beth to silence, but rather the fact that he grabbed her upper arms and pulled her towards himself. He leaned forward to her. His eyes bored straight into hers, so close, there was no more space for her to break the eye contact in any way. "You... you're right now not only my support and the strength that I need to live, but also my greatest weakness!" he exclaimed with difficulty staying calm. "Don't you see that?! I become an uncontrolled beast, if I get even the faintest feeling that someone would threaten your life!"

Beth only stared at him for a few heartbeats with wide eyes and open mouth. Not because she didn't believe him, but because the truth behind his words affected her so strongly that she was thrown completely off track. The thought that their deep love for each other could have a negative effect, that just _this _could makeMick vulnerable, had never crossed her mind, and it hurt terribly, for she knew about the inevitable consequences associated with it. This time _Mick_ unfortunately was right...

He struggled a moment with his troubled feelings and eventually let her go, trying to collect himself, as he again looked at the floor and ran a hand across his neck. When he looked up, he looked a bit contrite - a clear sign that he was already sorry for his harsh tone.

"I've tried for a while to just forget the immense problems still waiting for all of us, and that our future is far from certain," Mick continued a lot softer, "and that you, you and Josef had to carry this load on your shoulders alone. It can't go on like this. I... I have a duty to do all I can, that this… strange conference doesn't get out of control and you will once again be involved in a fight that could get you hurt or even killed. I _must_ regain control of what I am. Whatever that may be in the end. And this also means that I have to make sure that during the meeting, nothing and no one is present who could cause me to lose control. We cannot afford to have most of the vampires against us. We need to come together as a unit to resist the Legion."

Beth knew what he was trying to say, she understood it perfectly, but she could not help this deep hollow feeling of fear and despair that lodged itself inside her and combined with her enforced inability to act, brought tears to her eyes. She didn't want to cry at all. But the idea of not being at Mick's side when the vampire council made its decision about him was so terrible that it was hard to control herself.

"I... I can't go away," she muttered barely audible, and lowered her gaze. Mick should not see those damn, useless tears. "You can't ask this of me..."

She closed her eyes and tried to breathe deeply and calmly. Of course a tear still got through from her eyelashes and ran down her cheek. How she hated those moments of weakness! When she lifted her lids again, she could see the slight helplessness in his worried look despite the veil of tears she saw through.

"I'm not, Beth," he said. "All I'm asking is that you and Frank go together over to the farmhouse when the vampires show up here, and remain with Alejandro and his family until everything is over. I know that I'm asking a lot of you, but as long as I'm still having lapses such as in the barn…"

"This... this was only because of Hendrik," Beth said with a mixture of defiance and despondency in her voice and angrily wiped the tears from her cheeks. "If he hadn't threatened me before, that would not have happened."

"Yes, but it _has_ happened," Mick answered softly. "And, believe me, as much of a fool as Hendrik may be, he understands the relations. He now knows my weakness as well and _he_ will be present at the meeting..."

Beth inhaled deeply through her nose and tried to set her thoughts free from the firm grip of her confused emotions. She knew she couldn't use her gut feeling - not in such complicated situations. She had to remain logical and rational, no matter what fears and concerns attacked her, and at the moment Mick had the better argument. However, it wasn't over yet. She had given Mick his confidence back, his hope of a good outcome out of their tricky situation. She would certainly not allow that she herself sank into resignation and fear, just because something did not work the way she had imagined it before.

"We... we still have a little time," she said bravely. "Maybe you'll make such rapid progress that ultimately_ nothing_ can take the control over your body from you anymore and then it won't matter who's present at this meeting. Miracles do happen... "

There was again this critical line appearing between Mick's brows. He bit his lower lip again almost imperceptibly and announced unconsciously his next objection. "Even if that happens..." Mick tried to choose his words carefully, but she knew all along what he would say, "... on that day a lot of vampires will be in this house, Beth. And believe me, they won't be sympathetic towards humans..."

"I don't care," she interrupted him abruptly and she was not ashamed for sounding almost like a stubborn little child. "I'm not afraid of them!"

"But you should be."

Beth shook her head. "I... I'm just worried about you. And the thought of not being allowed to be by your side when they come..." She didn't go on, for she knew that he could see how unbearable that idea was for her.

"What do you want to do, Beth?" Mick asked gently and she could clearly see the increasing affection for her in his eyes. "Protect me with your own body, if they threaten me?"

She looked at him firmly and didn't hesitate a second with her answer: "If I have to."

Beth had expected that he would laugh about her irrationality or become angry. But instead, the expression in his eyes got even warmer and softer. Her breath stopped in surprise as he stretched out his hands towards her and against all odds pulled her gently into his arms, pressing her close to him. There could have been no more effective way to nip her resistance in the bud and bring her to silence. The longing for his touch was now so great that her soul sighed happily and she immediately forgot everything else around her.

She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his waist out of a deep and overwhelming desire, clinging to him, melting into his warm embrace. At that moment there was nothing that she needed more to get back her calm than this kind of closeness. And for Mick it was probably the same. She felt him bury his nose in her hair like so many times before almost like in a small, secret ritual and with a deep breath he inhaled her scent, while she tried, to take as much of his closeness into her as she could. The fear of again being separated from him by force, made it really hard for her voice of reason to emerge this time, and forced her to cling tightly to him as she was overcome with the strong, not unknown urge to never let go of him again. She pressed her nose against his chest, inhaled his wonderful scent and enjoyed the warmth, into which his powerful body enveloped her. She felt so protected and safe that her fears had no choice but to slowly evaporate. His breath blew gently over the sensitive skin of her neck and made sure that comforting goose bumps spread all over her body and a quiet, satisfied sound escaped from her lips.

Of course, this satisfaction did not last long. Beth's need for more intimate physical closeness grew rapidly, as the memory of their last heated moment was still too fresh and the temptation to bring it back was too great. Close, was soon not close enough anymore. Her hands slid further around his broad back and she huddled even closer to him and caused his arms to close more firmly around her, his nose to wander to her temple and his hot breath to blow into her ear. The rapid beating of his heart was pounding in the same rhythm as her own against her chest... so palpable, as much as his heavy breathing, which let his upper body move so provocatively against hers... so close but still not close enough ... She wanted to crawl into him, become one with him, inseparable... she had the right to do this...

She lifted her face, pressed it to his, forehead to forehead, so their noses touched, and both their fast breathes intertwined. Their lips were only millimeters away from each other... a right to do this.... before anyone separated them again from each other...

"Hem – ahem…" The cough was loud enough to let them both wince but not to let go of each other. Beth's head spun around and she quickly recognized the dark figure that was silhouetted against the light falling from the living room into the dark hallway. Josef.

"I see you've already swapped ideas on the most important things," he stated with forced amusement in his voice and folded his arms over his chest. "Probably more on a non-verbal level, but still..."

Mick's arms reluctantly released her from their grasp and Beth backed away from him with a slight sense of shame. They had really done nothing improper, but Josef was an attentive observer, and certainly knew in which direction the whole thing would have developed without his appearance.

"Do you want a moment alone?" Josef continued with clear sarcasm in his voice. "You can call me, when the blood splatters and you need someone who can serve as a sire - so we won't have to bury a woman's body somewhere in the desert."

Mick gave a disapproving sound and angrily shook his head. "Josef, that's..."

His friend interrupted him, as he raised his hand rapidly and with a certain severity. "I don't want to hear this, Mick! This is _your_ thing, okay?! _You_ need to know what you do... And I think you also know what concerns _I_ have about this type of thing between you two, so..." He took a deep breath to get a grip on the slight anger in his voice. "I... I'm in the living room," he added and immediately put his announcement into practice by turning around without another word and strutting out of the hall.

Beth inhaled deeply and had to laugh despite the embarrassing situation when she noticed that Mick did the same. He looked at the ground, smirking. "I told you so," he said not really serious.

She shrugged her shoulders as he yet again ventured to meet her eyes. "Nothing happened," she smirked back and now he was the one who gave a slight laugh.

He pointed with a nod to the closed door of his room. "The temptation was very close."

Of course he was right. And it was still not far enough away to be able to relax - which this dark, so tempting glow in his eyes told her clearly. She had to swallow once, before she could speak again in a normal voice.

"I... I'll go then and take my scolding," she said with another smile.

Mick nodded. "And I'm going to hide like a coward in my room, to wait and see if he then still wants to let off steam with me."

Beth laughed again and turned away from him with a heavy heart. His room was _too_ close and her reason surprisingly far away. Perhaps Josef could actually help her to get her inner voice back...


	47. Changes

_*__Hi! Back again! And after the short chapter a longer one again. I enjoyed your feedback so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Don't know if I would go on like that without you. And a lot of thanks to Jo, who beta read this chapter although she had a cold! Feel Hugged and kissed! You're great! I'll be back at Sunday again – I promise and I'm really curious what you all think about this chapter. Would be great if a few of you leave me again a little comment. I so need that… Best wishes, Jenna*_

* * *

**C****hanges**

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_**"**__**All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another."**_

_**Anatole France **_

* * *

_I was glad that Mick had given me one of those electronic keys to his apartment not too long ago, so I could open the door on my own and didn't need to wait until he'd freed himself at least for a moment from his lethargy to __let me in. I did not know exactly what had happened. __But since he had not answered the phone for several hours, probably some catastrophe had happened during his investigations into the kidnapping case which he had told me about. A catastrophe which seemingly had thrown him totally off track. I had worried about him, a feeling which now, as I felt that he was really at home and not lost somewhere, turned into a proper dose of anger. _

_The darkness as I entered confirmed my guess that Mick was once again at an absolute low-point. He had lit only the crystal fire that separated the dining and living rooms, but had otherwise abandoned any other source of light. I didn't need to look far to find him. He sat on one of the steps of the staircase that led to the upper floor and stared blankly into space. His fingers played absently with a silvery thing and there was an expression on his face that made me feel slightly uneasy. It was not the usual sadness and resignation that had caught him. It was more a deep thoughtfulness which often led to him make decisions that I could not countenance. _

_I walked slowly up to him, let my eyes wander over his form and found that his clothes were in a pretty wretched state; dusty, spattered with blood and baggy in some places as if someone had pulled with all their strength at the fabric. Also his face had gotten a little bit of dirt and foreign blood on it and his hair was tousled and hung straggly into his face. Apparently he had been in a pretty fierce fight. _

"_I thought I'd come over and bring a new phone along," I could not resist saying when I reached the stairs. "Yours doesn't seem to work anymore."_

_My words seemed to go unheard because Mick didn't show the slightest indication that he noticed my presence at all. _

"_Did anyone ever think you were an angel?" I heard his voice very softly after a few more seconds of agonizing silence. He was still staring absently into space but to my surprise his lips curled up into a soft smile. _

'_Angel?' I furrowed my brows worriedly. Twice before in the long time that we had known each other I had really considered putting Mick into a straitjacket. __Twice I had firmly assumed that he would not be able to get out of his delusion without some professional help. __I was really afraid this was going to be the third time. And actually there was only one person that could shellac Mick that much. _

_As if he could read my thoughts, Mick's smile suddenly died down and a strange mixture of feelings, sadness and hatred, appeared in the eyes he now turned to me._

"_I've killed her," he said softly, but there was no genuine remorse to be heard in his voice. __  
__I only raised my eyebrows questioningly._

"_Coraline." __  
__ I held my breath for a moment. Had I heard right? _

"_She was it, Josef," Mick continued. __"She kidnapped that girl to… to…" He did not go on. The thought of what Coraline had planned with the child upset him as much as the thought that my friend could have killed his own wife did me. __It was not that this act shocked me, no matter how old Coraline had been or what position she had had in the vampire society, she had been a cold woman who due to her sick idea of love had again__ and again tortured__ my best friend in the cruelest ways__ whether they were together or separated. _I_ had even thought about killing her a couple of times but had abandoned the thought because it had dawned on me that Mick had to take care of his problems concerning his ex-wife by himself and that I would only risk my friendship with him through such a deed. But after all these years I had never expected that he would really have the heart to kill her. __It had been a small miracle that he had been able to accomplish the divorce a few weeks ago.__ Coraline had even signed the papers without any emotion, but it had been clear to me immediately that she only had wanted to hurt him with her coolness and that the whole subject was far from done. __A woman like her didn't abandon the field so easily. _

"_She wanted to get you back," finally slipped softly from my lips. "She knew that you had always dreamed about starting a family." _

_Mick nodded and lowered his eyes again. __His cheek muscles twitched treacherously. The whole thing had upset him quite strongly and still did even now. "She's gone too far. You can not… cannot do this to a child. This is…" Again his trembling voice died away and he shook his head, affected. __"Another innocent human who would have died because of me. __I couldn't let that happen." _

"_No, of course not," I agreed with him. "Did you bring the little girl back to her mother?" _

_He nodded again. _

"_And she calls you her angel now?" I asked and allowed myself a smirk, as his lips twisted into a smile. _

"_Her guardian angel," he corrected, and his face got that soft, gentle expression, which always appeared when a human being had succeeded in touching him deeply inside. __"She didn't want to let me go."_

"_Well, you see," I smiled. "As the phrase goes: drunken men and children are telling the truth. __You are definitely an angel." _

_Somehow those were not the words that my friend wanted to hear for his face darkened abruptly and he stood up shaking his head. He came down the stairs and pushed past me._

"_No, children are just naive," he contradicted me a bit too fiercely and stopped in the middle of his living room area. __"Vampires are dangerous, dark creatures. I've seen what they are capable of Josef… how cruel they can be. __They do not even spare women and children! __And I've also done things that were terrible. I've also killed people. I always thought I could make up for it by helping humans as a private investigator, but this… this is not enough. __Especially not if I continue to use other people for my own selfish purposes… This… this has to stop!"_

_Oh, no, that did not sound good at all. So the thing with Marisa was still not really forgotten. Of __course not much time had actually passed, not even a full year, but the experience with the abduction of this little girl had stirred up the whole thing once again. _

"_I should no longer involve myself with humans," Mick added resolutely._

"_You should not have any relationships with humans," I agreed with him somewhat restrained. "You shouldn't allow yourself to have feelings for them, but…"_

"_No, Josef!" Mick interrupted me impatiently. "I will not feed on humans anymore. That's… that's just not right. __Just because we have these… these monsters in us, doesn't mean we must behave like them!"_

"_Oho, watch out!" I warned him. "Don't talk about 'us', okay?"_

_For a long moment Mick looked at me in silence and then turned away from me shaking his head. __He sat down on his couch deeply caught up in his thoughts and then raised his gaze. __"Fate is trying to tell me something, Josef, first with Marisa's death and now again with the abduction of this little girl."_

"_That you should stop drinking human blood?" I asked with an exasperated laugh._

"_No, that I, if I don't want to be like the vampires I despise so much, should not behave like them or live like them."_

"_And what does that mean in plain language?" I asked irritably. __"No more fresh blood, no more Freshies, no more fun?" _

_He did not answer me, only looked at me silently. _

"_That's sick!" burst out of me angrily. __"No vampire can live like that!"_

"_We'll see," he replied calmly, and his eyes wandered to the silver looking jewelry in his hands. I said nothing to this because I distinctly felt that it made no sense to continue this discussion with him today. Mick was an old pig-head, but he would find out what rewards he would have for this idea. A vampire could maybe live on stored blood for a certain period of time, but eventually nature would demand its right and the need to dig his teeth into the beautiful, slender neck of a woman would gain the upper hand. _

_I drew in a deep breath to get a grip on my anger about this stupid idea and just sat down on one of the two beige armchairs opposite the couch._

"_Isn't this Marisa's necklace?" I asked Mick as he slipped the delicate piece of jewelry again through his fingers. He nodded and a touch of sadness cast its shadow over his face._

"_Didn't you hand it over to Guillermo?"_

"_Yes. But a few days later he visited me and brought it back to me. He said that I now belong to the family and that Marisa would have wanted me to have it." He smiled absently. "She once told me that she got the necklace from her grandmother. It is said to have the ability to take in a part of the souls of the previous owners and thereby is able to give their strength and courage to the one who's wearing it." A faint sad sigh escaped his lips. "Well, it's just a fairy tale." _

"_But a beautiful one," I admitted quietly. After all, this night Mick had had the strength to free himself from his dangerous wife once and for all. Maybe there was indeed a core of truth in this legend and Marisa had stood by him one last time._

_Mick seemed to think the same thing because he quickly lowered his gaze to the ground as his eyes reddened suspiciously. He cleared his throat, a little angry at himself. "I don't know if I, after all the things I've seen, still possess the strength to believe in such fairy tales," he said in a scratchy voice, "but I know that this necklace will always remind me of the decision I've made today." _

_I looked into his determined face with wide eyes. A cold shiver forced its way down my spine because I realized that this day would initiate a new era in our friendship. Mick's life would change, and perhaps therefore also mine. _

* * *

Sometimes changes were quite elusive. In most cases it was difficult to assess whether they would go into a negative direction or a positive one. Even if you sometimes were sure you would be able to properly assess this, you were taught better after a while and found that everything had a quite different effect on the future than you first thought it would.

Mick's decision five years ago to change his life as a vampire radically and only feed on stored blood except for the few times when as a vampire he had avenged on criminals that threatened to escape justice had shocked and enraged me terribly when I found that he had really gone through with it.

Until recently I had clung for sometimes more, sometimes less, rational reasons to the thought that the night in which Mick had decided _against_ his vampire side and _for_ the humans had been one of the darkest in our history together and had rather damaged Mick's psyche basically, to say nothing of the pleasant side effect that Mick had also decided at this time to protect Beth for the rest of his life. But now, due to my new experiences and my ever-expanding skills in the field of psychology, these academic studies were sometimes overrated beyond measure, my view on this event suddenly changed and I understood for the first time that Mick had not withdrawn from life then, but with his decision had started again to really live.

Marisa's death and all other dramatic events around this woman had thrown him into a deep crisis. He had continued to exist but had not really taken part in the things surrounding him. He had hardly worked on any cases, much too often had hidden in his apartment and had participated in all the things that we did together only half-heartedly and with feigned enthusiasm. I had been very worried about him and hadn't been really happy that he had thrown himself despite his impaired mental state head over heels into the kidnapping case of the young Beth Turner. If I had guessed at that time that once again Coraline had her fingers in the game, I would have lunged personally at this witch and ripped her to pieces. In this way Mick had been forced to draw a line under this tormenting long chapter of his life on his own and had brought me again into the uncomfortable situation of worrying badly about my best friend's mental state.

I had been more surprised when Mick soon had shown the first signs of feeling better. He had handled his work more conscientiously than ever before, had gotten himself physically into a top form and had gotten back to his old humor and a certain restrained joy of life. Of course I had not been willing to assign this positive development to his new lifestyle but had just shifted it onto the thought that, with the violent death of his crazy ex-wife, the greatest burden of his life had fallen from his shoulders. I would have never gotten the idea that a little girl with blond curls and big blue eyes had succeeded in giving him back his faith in himself, his belief that there was something in this world that was worth fighting for. Just as I had never noticed that Mick was spending most of his too little spare time with secretly monitoring that girl and in doing so bestowing on her the best protection that a person could get in this world. Thus probably just that secret partaking in her life had opened for him the access to his own, presumed long since buried, humanity. He had not only saved _her_ life, but she had also saved _his_. And now she was doing it the second time.

Yes, sometimes changes are elusive. Sometimes you have to pause for a moment to really understand what they mean. Then a certain behavior that had been previously assessed as dangerous and useless was maybe not that questionable anymore but only a symptom for another, much larger, very positive development that one had not really noticed in the excitement of certain events, simply because the time for it was missing. Such as a certain, distinctly stronger emerging sex drive, for example.

It had made me angry to catch Beth and Mick last night in such an intimate embrace, which certainly only a few seconds later would have ended up in a much more intense physical wrestling in his bed. Well... maybe not seconds, but only minutes for sure!

Now I had concluded that the awakening of Mick's natural instincts, his increasing indulgence concerning his satisfaction of needs, in fact only meant one thing: he really and truly began to live again. For wasn't this exactly what made life worth living? To take in the taste of life with all your senses, to abandon yourself to it, to enjoy it without fear of tomorrow, of consequences or changes?

In the role of the sensualist I was, I knew how important it was for Mick to give in to his needs and to follow his natural instincts into life. How could I stand here and dictate to him what to do, forbid him the few pleasures that life was offering him at the moment? Actually, I had no right to do this because I, of all people, had always been a person who had flung about with sayings such as "Give in to the temptations. Who knows if they'll come back", or "I tried to live without alcohol and sex. These were the worst fifteen minutes of my life" and I had always lived that way.

Nevertheless, I _had_ to act like that, because I was still not really sure if Mick could control himself in such an exhausting and emotionally upsetting situation like the physical union of two people. I trusted Mick, the human. But Mick, the vampire had become, because of the incident in the barn, a bit eerie to me. And I felt obliged to protect Beth and him from further bad events even if I had to take on the, to me so invidious, role of the moral apostle and killjoy. That this was limited in time could not really comfort me at the moment.

This and many other thoughts had disturbed me almost all night and attacked me again as soon as I had awakened from my beauty sleep. It even led to the fact that I accidentally put on two different socks and needed three tries to button up my shirt properly. I was simply not used to worrying so much about the very private parts in the lives of other people even if they were my friends. Well, I had always liked to follow Mick's barely existing love life from afar over the last decades, just to be able to tease him from time to time, but these serious, anxious thoughts were new. And there was something so abnormally paternal lying within them that my own behavior sometimes sent cold shivers down my back.

The sun was already at its highest point when I walked into the not particularly lively living room of our abode and immediately looked around searching for my two culprits. I was relieved to find Beth without her shadow in the kitchen area while the current watchdog, August, who was in a significantly bad mood, was sitting in the living room. He threw an annoyed and tired glance at me. I had not told him exactly what this was about before I had gone to one of the freezers in a state of deep exhaustion, but had only issued the order to not leave Beth and Mick alone with each other. However, he was a smart guy and a skilled physician who also was familiar with the problem of temporary loss of control occurring in all vampires, and he was certainly able to make sense of all this. Only the role of the babysitter probably was not very pleasant for him especially when it was as little wanted by the people in need of supervision as in this case.

The 'lecture' I had given Beth last night had turned out quite long and had once again made it clear that she was only a human and had her limits. She had initially seemed very embarrassed and insightful, but then had surprisingly quickly proceeded to disencumber not only her unreasonable behavior, but also cite reasons why a more intimate contact with the man she loved was no longer as dangerous as it was previously, was in fact even almost safe. It had been a real challenge to discuss against a sharp mind like hers, but in the end she had had to abandon the field which was admittedly more attributed to her own insecurities than to my ingenious arguments. Nevertheless, I mistrusted her loudly announced, prospective discipline. I was sure that Mick would need only a few seconds to make her fold completely. And for him 'composure' was a foreign word at the moment. It was not that he did not _want_ to control himself he just _could_ not do it. That was also the reason why I had left him alone. He certainly would have been terribly insightful and repentant when I confronted him with this issue, but once he was alone with Beth and his instincts gained the upper hand, his mind switched off completely, no matter how carefully one had previously badgered him.

This being the case I had always relied on Beth's reason so far. Since this had now also started to bow out, I now felt forced to still talk with Mick about it all. Above all because I had gotten a call from Thomas only a few minutes ago and I had to be on my way back to LA in less than an hour.

With a nod of my head I told August that he was released and the vampire gave such a loud sigh of relief that Beth, who was engaged in preparing a... salad? ... turned in surprise to us. A beam flashed over her face and told me that she was, despite our long discussion yesterday evening, in a surprisingly good mood.

"Good morning, Josef," slipped quite relaxed from her lips and she whirled back around to the sink and to the rhythm of the softly playing radio music again pulled the leaves off a rather large, pretty green lettuce putting them happily into a bowl. I frowned a bit puzzled, waited until August who was shuffling toward the basement with heavy steps, had passed me and then joined her. My eyes got even quite a bit wider. Before Beth on the shelf were two large cucumbers and some equally beautiful, crisply red tomatoes.

"Where did you get that from?" I immediately blurted out in amazement.

She gave me a mysterious smile, and just went on with her work.

"Beth?"

"Guess."

I rolled my eyes unnoticed by her. I hated these games. They were the purest waste of time. Besides, my mind was so sharp that you could hardly surprise me anyway.

"Have you met Isabella?" I asked with a slight uneasiness.

Beth's beautiful smile faded and she dropped the head of lettuce disappointed. "How did you know?"

"Come on, Beth, it's not as if there is a supermarket just around the corner," I replied, anxious to dissemble that I didn't really like her answer.

"There you're right," she admitted with a shrug and went back to her work.

I watched her for a while cracking up the head of lettuce, but couldn't bring myself to say what was bothering me until she grabbed a knife and one of the tomatoes.

"Was she here?"

Beth nodded, and my uneasiness grew.

"Together with her son," she said without looking up. "They also brought us fresh bread."

"... and where was Mick?"

"In my bed."

My breath caught for a moment, until Beth finally looked at me and could no longer hold back her laughter.

"I'm sorry, Josef," she chuckled and touched my shoulder in a gesture of apology, "but this was so inviting..."

"Yeah, yeah, very funny," I replied angrily, pushing her hand away. _If_ anyone was making jokes at other people's expense then it was _me_!

Beth pressed her lips together and tried for the sake of my wounded pride to wipe every trace of amusement out of her facial expression. "Mick was there too. And he was even happy to see the two again. He probably would have even embraced them, if not for this monster of a dog that got itself in between."

"The dog was also here?" Now I was glad to have slept downstairs in my fridge. This drooling monster was just what I needed with all the problems and concerns burdening me. My thoughts were probably clearly shown on my face because another laugh escaped Beth which she quickly hid behind her hand.

"And where is Mick now?"

She nodded towards the porch and I was able to spot through the window the outlines of a dark, broad-shouldered figure on the bench outside.

"Apparently you two have already developed a clear role allocation," I had to tease her a little. "You do the cooking and he puts his feet up."

The effect of my comment failed a bit because rather than to gasp for air in outrage her lips just twisted into another grin. "I would really love to meet your conceived fantasy image, Josef, but unfortunately, your friend doesn't really think that way. In fact _he_ was the one who wanted to make this salad. He had even begun doing that and cut three tomatoes." She paused to let me think about that. However, there was nothing red in the bowl.

"And where are they?" I asked the question she wanted to hear.

"In his stomach," she replied, her smile getting a good bit wider. "He, of course, had just _tasted_ them and enthused about the excellent flavor."

"Let me guess: he had needed to check whether the other two tasted the same?"

"Correct!"  
This time it was me who had to laugh. So much for the subject of 'control'.

"And because _I _also wanted to eat a bit of the salad I threw him out," she continued and went again to the tomatoes armed with a knife.

"Well, then I'll go and pay a visit to the outcast," I said with a smirk and watched her nod as I turned away from her. I was really curious how the unannounced visit of the Rojas had affected Mick's state of mind. His last meeting with Manolo had upset him terribly but as Beth seemed so calm and cheerful, and he had also been able to eat something, everything had to have gone remarkably well.

A warm wind was blowing towards me as I stepped onto the porch and I could not help taking a deep drag of fresh air into my basement-ridden lungs before I turned to Mick. He had moved the old wooden bench slightly forward so that he could easily put his bare feet on the waist-high railing of the veranda and therefore was more lying than sitting on the bench which was embellished with a blanket and several pillows. His head was resting on the backrest and his eyes were closed, while a satisfied smile shown on his lips. He was a human from head to toe at least from this small distance and as long as I didn't focus my senses on him.

A low growl made me realize that the thing I had at first sight thought to be a pillow lying on Mick's belly was in fact the skull of this impossible, vampire-adoring dog that was blinking at me lazily through half-closed eyes. Fortunately he was not sitting on the side of the porch where I was, otherwise he would, despite his deep love for my friend, certainly have gotten the idea to leap at me out of sheer politeness and spread his slobber on my clothes.

"We're doing Siesta," Mick muttered without opening his eyes and in doing so showed me that he had not fallen asleep as I had first assumed. "So, don't worry, you can come a little closer."

I preferred to stay where I was and just crossed my arms over my chest, smirking. The image of absolute harmony and peace which I found here surprised me on the one hand and on the other hand it also immensely raised my spirits. That Mick, of all people, was the one who got my insides at least for this moment into a state of calm and ease was really amazing. A few days ago I would have regarded this thought as absolutely absurd. And again it confirmed my assumption: Mick was slowly able again to enjoy certain things in his life. Who was I to bring him back from this state with reproachful words and unnecessary rules? If we all made sure that he and Beth were never alone, I would not even have to talk with him about the thing that had happened yesterday.

"You know that you won't get rid of that dog so easily?" I asked Mick instead.  
My friend opened his eyes, slightly raised his head and looked not at me but at the dog. "Don't listen to what the evil man says," he said with a hidden smile and ruffled the animal behind its fluffy ears, so that Monster's eyes got even smaller and more sounds of pleasure escaped his throat, "he's just jealous that you love me more than him."

"Oh, yeah," I replied with an overstated nod. "How I would love to have such a wonderfully stinking, hairy bacilli-thrower on my lap! I die of envy!"

Mick laughed and now turned his face to me. "Manolo will pick him up again when he returns from hunting and that should actually be at any minute," he explained. "Monster didn't want to go with him and since August had an objection against me taking him into the house, I decided to keep him company out here."

So this was his version of the expulsion. Somehow I couldn't escape the feeling that Beth's version was more likely the truth. But I added nothing to this and rather enjoyed the fact that my friend had coped with the second meeting with Manolo and his mother so well. Maybe it was due to the fact that human Mick did not really have a common past with this family. All the bad things that had happened back then had to do with vampires. And that Mick was a master of splitting off certain experiences in certain situations and to suppress them wonderfully he had repeatedly demonstrated in his previous life.

"What's Manolo chasing?" I asked into the little break that had built between us. "Scorpions?"  
"Actually they should be quite tasty," Mick grinned. "However, there are also rabbits here." He cast a glance over his shoulder toward the window and went on more softly: "Manolo promised me to later bring a piece of the delicious roast his mother will make with it today. But don't tell Beth anything about it. She was pretty shocked when he told her what he wanted to kill."

I raised both hands. "I'll take good care not to arouse in a woman who has the whole refrigerator full of human blood the thought that you could eat a rabbit that hopped joyfully around only a few hours ago."

My friend tried to cast a warning glance at me which was quite hard as he was simultaneously trying to suppress his laughter.

"And why did this athletically built hunting dog not go with him?" I asked Mick.

"Hunting isn't really his favorite activity," he smiled and ruffled the broad skull of the stolid animal that was still not moving in any way. "He'd much rather get a head massage."

I now stepped closer and leaned next to Mick's somewhat dusty feet against the railing. Apparently he already had taken a walk without his shoes. For him it was probably a wonderful experience for the senses but for me it's unthinkable with all this dirt and the hard stones in the sand.

"He has a remarkably good memory for an animal," I noted. "In that he still knows who you are."

I caught my friend giving monster an almost tender glance. "Some things you never forget." He smiled pensively. "It was an interesting experience to be forced to be a pet owner for almost a month."

"Interesting' is good," I said, shaking my head. "I would have probably put him outside the door at the latest after the second pair of shoes he chewed up."

The gaze Mick was giving me was a bit annoyed. "He was still a puppy, Josef."

"Yeah, and it was the shoes by John Lobb I'd once given you for your birthday," I replied sternly. "I was glad, in any case, when you got the idea to give this calf to Manolo."

Mick shrugged. "If I hadn't been a vampire..."

"Don't give me that jive!" I warned him because I felt strongly how seriously he meant his words. Who knew how everything would develop. Stupid ideas sprang mostly from stressful situations.

Of course, Mick couldn't help annoying me now more than ever. "My apartment would be big enough. And if I would need to go away for a few days I would know where I could take him. Such a nice big house and, after all we like uncle Josef so very much, don't we, Monster?" Mick patted the calf's head, grinning, while my eyes got narrower under my more feigned than serious annoyance.

"_Uncle_ Josef?" I repeated scandalized and Mick perfectly judged his innocent air.

"But of course, as Beth and I can not have children, Monster would, of course, be our compensatory kid and you..." He made a solemn pause. "... his godfather."

I put on a false smile. "I feel honored, but I would rather live a week in Logan's basement than to play the babysitter for this shoe-eating monster."

"A whole week?" Mick raised his eyebrows respectfully. "That's really quite a statement."

"You love this, don't you?" I asked, shaking my head.

Mick nodded with a smile. "You don't?"

Of course, it was fun for me because we could suddenly deal with each other in a relaxed and open manner like in old times. But I could not admit this in front of him, at least not seriously.

"But of course," I said with an ironic undertone. "I can imagine nothing better than to be the favorite object of your rediscovered mockery."

"Didn't you come outside for that reason?" Mick replied in playful amazement.

I did not respond to him because at that moment Manolo rounded the corner of the house and instantly started a beaming competition with the sun as he spotted me next to Mick.

"Hóla, José!" he called joyfully and held his hand into the air to proudly present us his gain: two, for this region, quite stately rabbits, decoratively dangling on a leather band.

I heard a grunt beside me and saw that monster raised his head and pricked up his ears. Unfortunately, I was, in contrast to Mick who quickly took his legs down from the railing and then moved them aside, unaware of what would happen just a second later. The dog did not simply jump elegantly past us, but rammed everything aside that was in the way to his young owner like a bulldozer, including my left leg. I owed it only to my quick reflexes that I did not rudely land on my buttocks and instead used one of the supporting pillars of the porch roof to keep my body upright, despite the force of the impact.

Manolo at least had the decency to cast an apologetic look at me while my mangy best friend could hardly hide his laughter behind his hand.

"He didn't do that intentionally," Manolo apologized while trying with great difficulty to keep the dog which was leaping at him again and again from catching one of the dead rabbits. "He's just terribly clumsy."

"Never mind," I waved him off and with gnashing teeth moved back out of the rays of the sun, into which I had stepped accidentally.

Manolo seemed relieved, but his attention was in fact already drawn to someone else.

"I bring you some of the food afterwards," he called out to Mick who had sat up on the bank a bit and now gave the young Mexican a nod, smiling and showing him his thumb stuck up in the air.

Manolo laughed happily, shouldered his gun and went on his way back to the main house. He looked at us again and again while walking and when I turned slightly to Mick I noticed that he as well could not easily detach his gaze from the young man. He seemingly could not completely repress the memories of their shared past because a whiff of melancholy had appeared on his relaxed face. There was certainly something to be done about this.

"What a pity! The calf is disappearing. You probably need to seek another object with which you can annoy me, _Micky_," I said with my most friendly smile which was immediately responded to most cordially by my friend.

"I will, for sure... _Josie_."

I grimaced in disgust but was delighted that Mick was so wonderfully responsive to these familiar little power games between us.

"That's wonderful... _Mick_," I corrected my small mistake and he nodded to me. "_Josef_..."

For a little while there was silence between us again. An amicable, pleasant silence that you can usually only share with people who are really close to you. The kind of silence in which you can relax and in which you can really come to rest. Unfortunately, it also caused this unwillingness in me to talk with Mick about the important things he urgently had to keep in his mind during my brief absence and which had been the actual reason why I had come out here.

A low, slightly amused sound from Mick's direction ripped me out of my thoughts and I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"It's strange how things change when you suddenly look at them from a very different angle," he began while still watching the clump of trees near the house. He now clearly had moved to a very different, more serious topic which I first had to make up my mind about whether I liked it or not. "This whole undead-myth which surrounds us vampires; it's actually all inane nonsense."

I shrugged my shoulders. "That depends on how the word 'undead' is defined."

Mick shook his head and now decided to look at me. "Basically, it only helps us to distance ourselves from the so-called 'mortal ones'."

"And?"  
"But vampires are not _dead_ people, Josef. All organisms that move, which are active and interact with this world, have a circulation, a metabolism. They live!"

With that he was right. Of course, vampires were not truly dead. They only worked a little bit differently than humans.

"Only just not as intense as a normal person," he added.

"Like you now," I said.

To my surprise, Mick shook his head. "It's different because I am not one hundred percent human," he explained with a small smile. "The compound I've received has indeed made sure that my human side predominates at the moment, but a small part of the vampire is still there."  
"And that's good?" I asked warily.

Mick thought for a moment about it. "Yes," he managed to finally respond and he really surprised me with his answer. I would have never expected to hear such words from his mouth at one time. "Because... because I'm no longer forced to bear this, this enforced resting state of the vampire existence, but still can sense some things with a sensibility that exceeds the possibilities of human sentience by far."

"You can still draw on your vampire skills?" I asked in surprise.

"On some of them, but not intentionally, and not permanently," Mick admitted. "I can not even control them at the moment. But it happens again and again and then..." He took a deep breath in order to search the right words for his feelings but could not really produce anything useful. "It's simply intoxicating, because it's so unfiltered and without this forced cold calmness."

I understood yet again what he was talking about. A human would not have understood his feelings. But we vampires, no matter how much we appreciated our immortality and our supernatural strength, also ached sometimes to let the world in which we lived touch us deep inside, to shake off this cool composure of our existence and feel sensory inputs with our whole being and not only with our minds. For us, there were only two extremes: a relative lack of emotion or extreme turmoil which almost always came along with a transformation and the lust for human blood.

What Mick was telling me about was simply incredible and made me speechless again. Could it really be that all this suffering that had happened to him was now at least opening a small, positive side effect for him?

I was once again not able to express my thoughts for precisely at this instant Logan rumbled breathlessly onto the porch. He was a little pale around the nose and seemed to be terribly upset. But when he saw Mick he tried to pull himself together and put on an optimistic smile.

"Josef, you..." He drew a deep breath into his lungs. "Could you maybe just come down with me? I would like to show you something. "

Actually, I felt no real desire to end my interesting conversation with Mick yet, but there was something in Logan's eyes that puzzled me and told me that his request this time was indeed very urgent and shouldn't be delayed. I cast an apologetic glance at Mick, but he immediately nodded understandingly and so I gave Logan a brief hint that we could go.

Inside the house I noticed distinctly louder music than before, old music from the fifties. Doris Day, if I was not mistaken, with one of this really good numbers to whose rumba sounds Beth moved, while still making her salad, with a swinging of her hips which caused even the still very upset Logan to stop his movement and drop his lower jaw.

I could not help it, even though Logan had given the impression that his concern was really urgent, I simply _had_ to stop and at least for a moment enjoy the sight that the young woman who was completely absorbed in both her work and the music offered, and who apparently was totally unaware of her natural eroticism. At the same time, I realized that the volume of the music forcibly_ had _to draw my more than ever lusting for sensual experiences friend on the porch now that his monstrous belly load was gone. It was _his_ music, _his_ time... _his_ Beth. And _my_ fears.

Of course, the door opened a few seconds later and Mick came in with a clearly enthusiastic expression on his face and great interest in his joyfully sparkling eyes.

I gave Logan a little push so he could break away from looking at Beth in time and wouldn't accidentally awaken Mick's jealousy from its light sleep. He blinked, confused, but then immediately hurried on shaking his head like an absent-minded professor who had just remembered that he had something important to do. I myself still took time to take another look at Mick, to estimate how much time I had to find a new baby sitter for my two favorite humans.

The smile that formed on Mick's lips when he discovered Beth could still be referred to as being harmless. But the expression that was soon shown in his eyes, spoke volumes: Mick was far more receptive to the soft, unintentionally indecent movements Beth performed in her state of mental absence than any other man here in this house. I hadn't expected anything else but didn't say anything to him. It was much more useful to go into the basement and instruct someone to keep the two of them company. So I dashed off immediately, inwardly praying that my friend wouldn't simply throw the young woman over his shoulder and disappear with her to a distant place where no one would find them very quickly.

* * *

It was a long time since Beth had been as satisfied and happy with herself and the world as in this moment even though such big problems, such enormous obstacles still lay on the road to their uncertain future.

She had slept quite well that night despite her stressing conversation with Josef and her unsated needs concerning a particular male person in this house. Amazingly, it had been precisely this usually so sorrowful person who had raised her already high spirits that day simply because already in the early morning he had radiated a joy and vitality which was terribly contagious. In a silent minute between her and Peterson the professor had laid this on Mick's at the moment very human condition and Beth was sure that the doctor was quite right with this assumption. Mick enjoyed feeling like a human to the fullest and tried to push the problems they would have to fight soon at least for this day as far away from him as possible. And because his great mood had a positive effect on everyone else in this house she had decided as well to exclude the future for this moment in her life and to simply enjoy the hours together with Mick. And it was so simple... so beautiful. Having breakfast together, joking around and laughing together, behaving like a normal, newly enamored couple, with a few restrictions of course.

The fact that August's alert eyes had rested on them the whole time had been a little bit disturbing, but had been bearable because she herself had felt again and again how important the presence of the doctor was. The intense and growing tension between her and Mick had in the last few hours gotten through to her all too clearly again and again, along with her own weakness when she had again felt compelled to drown in the intense blue of his expressive eyes. Even if she did not like to admit it she was by far not as strong-minded as she had been only a few days ago. Her reason was given no more food, in fact, quite the contrary. The fact that Mick's human side had become visibly strengthened by the professor's injection made it immensely difficult for Beth to be reasonable. For the risk that Mick could change into a vampire during the love-play and bite her was lowered to an extreme minimum. Which, of course, didn't mean that it was not there. This, Josef had once again made very clear to her the evening before. Often the worst things happened if and only if you absolutely didn't acknowledge them. So she had promised her friend to be careful and make sure that someone was always with them in the same room. And she had stuck by this so far...

But sometimes you were just too distracted to notice when a situation changed. Loud music, for example, was one thing that could distract you a lot. If you additionally buried yourself in a work you liked a lot, you could indeed miss some important things in the background. For example, that one person left the room and another entered it. If this person additionally did this very quietly and you sang along loudly with a song from the radio it was quite possible that you would not even notice that the person approached you.

"Perhaps, perhaps, perhaaaaaa!" Beth's heart stopped for a moment when she almost collided in her half turn with a tall, smirking figure which had suddenly appeared next to her almost out of nowhere only to then pound against her ribs at a rather unhealthy pace.

"Are you nuts?!" she gasped and pressed her hand against her chest to let her heart know that there was no real reason for this record work.

Mick could not help laughing a little and she gave him a reproachful glance.

"I honestly didn't mean to scare you," he apologized immediately, "but you were so absorbed in the music..."

"How... how long were you watching me?" she asked, alarmed, and felt the blood shoot into her cheeks. How embarrassing!

"Not that long," he replied with a treacherous smirk. "I only came in when Logan and Josef were already on their way downstairs."

Beth's facial features derailed. She looked around briefly to make sure that no other person had taken part in her little show and then ran both her hands over her face shaking her head. "Is there a little hole somewhere that I can crawl into?" she groaned in frustration.

"Without a doubt," he said gently and stepped closer to her. "But you're not going to crawl away."

Oh, oh. Something about his tone told her that it was not good that suddenly no one else was present. And then there was also this suspicious sparkling in his blue eyes.

"But maybe I _should_ do that," she replied as calmly as possible, backing away a little bit. "You... you even said yourself yesterday that we should not be alone."

He shrugged his shoulders with a hidden smile. "Maybe it's not so bad today," he said casually. It seemed as if his emotional side worked with the same dirty tricks as hers. "And I'm sure Josef will send someone up to us as soon as possible. Let's see how far we can get without being disturbed." He paused startled because he noticed in which way one could interpret his words. "With the food of course!" He added hastily. "With the food! We were going to..." He broke off when he saw her laughing and bit his lower lip with a slight grin.

"That probably means you're hungry," she noted and she got a bit hot when she noticed that his eyes roamed not really unobtrusively down her body and up again. When they locked eyes again the strange sparkle in his eyes confirmed her suspicions. He hungered indeed the only question was for what?

A treacherous fluttering was spreading in the lower regions of her body and Beth turned quickly away from him to pull the salad bowl a bit closer to her. She just had to behave in a totally normal way and to guide her thoughts to the things they were allowed to do together.

"Then... then perhaps we should prepare everything," she said with a somewhat husky voice, but didn't look at him. 'Avoid eye contact,' she advised herself, 'then you've got yourself under better control.'

"Okay," she heard him say and he pushed past her unnecessarily close to pull open one of the drawers next to her and got the cutlery. Even this brief physical contact rattled hard at Beth's self-control. The painful longing for his closeness once again awoke to life and tried to seize her mind with all its power. Arguments she had been able only with great difficulty to push deeply into the back of her mind in yesterday's debate with Josef now surged back into her mind and caused an unhealthy defiance against any restriction of her needs.

'Remain strong, remain strong,' she inwardly told herself. 'For sure someone will be appearing here at any minute and will prevent anything from happening between you.'

That now, of all times, a voice in the radio announced a "heart-warming cuddle-song by Otis Redding" was anything but helpful. Of course, _These Arms of Mine_ had exactly that kind of text which was nearly tailor-made for their current needs. Somehow, the world was against them.

Beth bravely set her sights on the wall cupboard above her, rose onto her tiptoes and quickly opened the door. She stretched herself to get at the plates and froze in the middle of the movement. It was Mick's hand which pushed past hers to get the dishes out of the cupboard, _his_ bare arm sliding over hers causing a tingling that was occupying bit by bit every little inch of her skin, and _his_ body whose heat she felt all too clearly behind her own. Her stomach did a little somersault and spurred her heart to do the same as his warm breath met the skin of her bare neck which was exposed by her ponytail. Beth closed her eyes briefly and told herself to go on breathing and above all to act as if his proximity had no effect on her mental state.

She quickly withdrew her hand and fell back onto her heels when Mick took the plates from the cupboard and placed them before her on the shelf.

'Well, and now you walk a few steps to the side and fetch two glasses from the other cupboard,' she gave herself the next command. But neither she nor Mick moved. Instead, she let herself get lulled by Otis Redding's husky voice as she turned her senses full of pleasure to the warm body behind her, to Mick's strong hands which now came to rest beside her hips on the working top. His nose was moving along the side of her hair to her ear and causing a series of the most pleasant shivers which spread throughout her whole body.

She closed her eyes again, this time because she abandoned herself to the sensations as her whole body began to tingle and her mind all too willingly let itself be driven back by her natural instincts. She held her breath as Mick closed the small gap between them and his warm body pressed lengthwise against hers, letting her feel the texture of his athletic body in every detail. Her breathing came faster and shorter and she leaned back unconsciously into him, even though she knew full well that this was the worst thing she could do. At first it was only his chin she felt at her neck, closely above her shoulder. He had probably not yet shaved, and the scratchy stubble teased her sensitive skin in a most exciting way. More intense was the shiver accompanying the hot, velvety contact of his lips with her skin and causing an incredibly strong reaction in her abdomen. Her muscles contracted and a languorous heat spread in her center. A low moan escaped her as his lips began to feel out and caress her neck with an intensity that was almost unbearable and triggered off an almost unbridled desire for more inside her. Unconsciously she leaned her head back against his shoulder and abandoned herself to his intimate touches. She felt his hand on her hip, felt how his fingers slipped under the fabric of her T-shirt and bit her lower lip as they slid over her bare skin roaming with gentle pressure over her belly, searching purposefully for a way up her tingling body. By now, for her, it didn't matter anymore where they were or what was happening around them in this house. She wanted Mick. Right now. Here. That he felt the same she could feel all too clearly. And if anyone would dare to disturb them again, no matter who it was...

It was Seth. At first something rumbled on the floor and Mick and she, totally out of breath, remained in the intimate embrace in which they had let themselves get carried away. Then they heard steps and Mick's hand slipped, to her regret, out of her shirt and he raised his head with a deeply frustrated sound. Finally, Seth appeared in the doorway somewhat embarrassed and looking significantly bleary-eyed.

"Uh... Hi!" slipped softly from his lips after he had spotted them both, and he immediately got a bit more color in his vampire-pale face. This was probably due to the fact that neither Beth nor Mick were willing to give up their intimate body contact and to accept that it was still not granted to them to give each other the pleasure they needed.

"Tell me that you'll leave again at any minute!" Mick sounded slightly grumpy and spoke completely from the heart of Beth's emotional side. Her mind, however, ranted and raved at her again. It was good that Seth was there. He wasn't to be allowed to go.

The young man cleared his throat, embarrassed, and took a few uncertain steps into the living room. "I… I would really like to do that," he stammered. "But Josef told me to wait here with you for him."

Beth could feel Mick's chest widen with a deep breath. He was visibly struggling with his control and not only because of his state of arousal. So Beth decided with a heavy heart to make this fight easier for him. She withdrew from his embrace with wobbly legs and quickly put a little distance between them by simply taking her salad bowl and placing it on the small table in the kitchen. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Mick shook his head and then ran both his hands over his face.

"I... I think I'll go running," she could hear him mumble and then he turned around and walked towards the door. There he stayed briefly and looked around for her. "If anyone is looking for me... I'll probably stay for a while at the small lake."

She managed nothing other than a short nod. Then he was gone and she was left alone with her frustration and disappointment.

Beth stared at the salad bowl before her and only shook her head. It couldn't go on like this for long. That was not good for their physical and mental health, and certainly not for their nerves.

"I... I'm sorry," she heard Seth say softly and lifted her head. The boy looked so embarrassed that she was almost sorrier for him than for herself and managed to put on an encouraging smile.

"It's okay," she said with a composure she did not really feel. "I just don't want to eat alone now. Don't you want to sit down with me?"

A beam slipped over Seth's face and caused her to feel already a bit better. Perhaps the young vampire could indeed distract her a bit from her frustration.

* * *

"So, where does all this excitement come from, Logan?" I turned to our little geek with a frown on my face. He was already fairly uneasily sliding back and forth in his chair. First we woke Seth together and sent him upstairs to Beth and Mick, which had lasted longer than to take a blood sample of ten liters from an elephant and only then had we been able to apply our attention to the 'important' information Logan thought to have read out of Ritchcroft's files.

With lightning speed Logan typed in a few commands on his keyboard and on the monitor in front of us several text files opened up one after the other. He moved one of them to the second monitor right next to me, it was really amazing what you could do with technology these day, and then cleared his throat nervously.

"So... here is an excerpt from a correspondence by Paul Ritchcroft and this Gallagher," Logan said tensely and pointed to the screen before him. "It's about the delivery of a substance called BX23, which was purposely retained by the supplier and because of that caused a huge turmoil. The supplier threatened to abandon the entire delivery if one didn't hand a certain person over to him who was being kept imprisoned for a month in one of the laboratories. And before you ask me, this was not all about Mick. I've checked it immediately. This all took place shortly before his disappearance and it was about a female vampire."

The long lasting look that he gave me told me that the real big hit was yet to come.

"The supplier wanted to free a vampire?" I asked with astonishment.

Logan nodded emphatically.

"Why?"  
"This is exactly the right question. And it's closely related to the question of the identity of the vampire."

A strange pressure was building in my stomach when the ghost of a suspicion pushed its way through my mind. "Do I know the vampire?"

Logan nodded again and the pressure got stronger. "You also know the supplier."

Now I felt really queasy. "He's also a vampire." I whispered shocked.

This time Logan saved his nod and instead enlarged a part of one letter in which a name was shown and which triggered off not only terror but also a burning rage inside of me: C. Davis. Cynthia Xavier Davis. Coraline's best friend and companion for many centuries.

Memories of things that Mick had told me whirled up in me and along with the new events led to thoughts that I could hardly stand. Slowly I realized how Coraline had known that the Henderson & Field Corporation had had something to do with Mick's disappearance and why she had been able to give me this tip.

I tried to breathe deeply and calmly and to get my rage under control. I could not allow those feelings to block my reason.

"That means Coraline was also in the laboratories of the Legion for a month," I summed up my latest findings anxiously composed. "And that Cynthia has supplied the Legion with a certain cure for quite some time."

"She's a dirty traitor!" Logan growled and his eyes lit up brightly for a moment. "Mick set me on her once when he was searching for his missing ex-wife. And that's when I found out that this Cynthia had finished very successfully a degree in biochemistry and had regularly flown in herbal products from Paris to LA allegedly for an agricultural company." He looked at me meaningfully while I shook my head in disbelief.

"You mean she has worked _directly_ for the Legion?"

Logan shrugged. "Back then Mick thought she had only done all this for Coraline's research concerning the cure. But with all the new information we have now I would say our super-detective was somewhat misguided there."

My mind worked now so rapidly and intensely that my head began to throb. "If you are in fact right and Cynthia indeed had a deal with the Legion then I would be dying to know what rewards she got for this."

"Well, at least she could free her bosom friend through this connections," Logan said, and again I was taken aback.

"They really took this deal instead of simply killing her?"

"Yes, but only because Cynthia gave them something else," Logan spat out with a contempt I was not used to by him. "As a substitute for Coraline, so to speak."

My eyes widened and my blood started to boil again, because I knew exactly what was coming.  
"She sold them Mick, Josef," my young friend added grinding his teeth. "They told her what they needed, and Cynthia has quasi pushed Mick towards them. You can find everything in the exchanges of letters."

I had to stand up and walk a few steps through the room to keep from screaming loudly with rage. This was a betrayal that had no equal. Cynthia had done a lot of things for Coraline, but this...

I doubted, however, that Coraline had known anything about this deal. Even if she was a devious bitch and had caused Mick a lot of sorrow and pain in the course of their torturous relationship, I had always been sure that she really had loved him in her own sick way. She would have never bartered her life for his or have never let someone else gave him such physical and emotional pain. And even if she had perhaps not been able to prevent it she would at least have certainly pulled out all the stops to free him again. She would have contacted me much sooner.

I tried to drive off all thoughts of Mick's ex-wife by force and to focus on the important things. I felt that Logan watched me worriedly. Apparently he was afraid that I would damage or even destroy his beloved devices in a rage and indeed I felt like throwing something through the air or to pointlessly hammer on it, but I was still in control.

"She didn't do this alone," I muttered to myself as I paced up and down in the small room. "You can't mount something like this without the help of others. She would at least have needed confidents."

"You mean there's a whole group of traitors among us?" Logan asked with great unease.

"I don't think they see themselves as traitors," I replied with an icy smile. "They just do their own thing and have negotiated something with the Legion for which they have gotten at least one big advantage or had had for a time. Something like this has happened time and again through the centuries."

"You... you're talking about the Europeans, aren't you?" my friend asked excitedly.

"Logan, not all European vampires are like Lance and his 'family'. There are some who have built similar communities such as we have here and they have a lively exchange with us. It may not be that well known to many of us but it's there."

"Then it's only Lance and his 'family'." He made those silly quotes in the air and I rolled my eyes. "They are the traitors, right?"

"I hope not," I replied, and in doing so visibly confused Logan. "I know that this ancient family had owned the cure Mick told me about and I'm almost sure that it's this BX23, but as far as I can remember, Lance was definitely not thrilled when he found out that his sister had stolen a part of it and had started to experiment with it. He wanted to punish her hard for this."

Logan furrowed his brows pensively. "And if that was her punishment?"

"What?"

"Well, that she was sold to the Legion."

I thought for a moment about this idea and then raised my shoulders. "It's certainly possible but that's a far cry from saying that Lance has found a common cause with the Legion."

"The question is also if he and his friends _still_ do," Logan said thoughtfully. "After all, we are now at war and if the Legion fights against itself then no one can be trusted anymore. And if Cynthia has worked alone she's now in big trouble."

A malicious smile crept on my face. "Even if she has not, I will arrange it in any case," I replied quietly and my smile found its twin on Logan's face.

"You mean you're going to show her up at this vampire meeting?"

"I'm going to set the whole pack on her neck and put such a high bounty on her that she won't find one place in this world where she can hide." It helped to vocalize these words and the painful knot in my belly began to loosen a bit. "This woman has for the last time in her not very long lasting life sent another vampire into hell."

For a while there was consensual silence between us and each one of us was dwelling on his own beautiful fantasies of violence. But then Logan's childlike face got serious again and strangely enough also paler. The last shred of thought had probably not been as pleasant as the other ones.

"When are you flying back to LA?" he asked cautiously and for some mysterious reason could not look me in the eyes.

I stepped closer to him. "I told Daniel to pick me up in two hours and that's a while ago."

Logan nodded and turned around in his chair so that the monitor was again in front of him. "There is one more thing you should see," he said gloomily. "Because you told me recently that there are some vampires who doubt that the things that are said to have happened to Mick are really true..."

I joined him and he hesitantly looked up at me from below. One of my eyebrows rose inquiringly.

"What exactly is it about, Logan?"

He took a deep breath. "About this." He opened with a click another file which turned out to be a video. Frank appeared on the monitor but before he could say anything Logan stopped the film.

"This is a video message from Frank to Ritchcroft and..." Logan swallowed hard. "... in the end it becomes quite violent."

"In which way?" I probed alerted.

"It's... it's about Mick and about the things they've done to him for quite a while." Logan's face had now clearly lost its color and also his voice suffered audibly from what he had probably watched once already. "You have to consider if you want to watch it, but... can... can I go out as you do it?"

The knot in my guts tightened in a very painful way but I nodded bravely. My sensitive friend started the video again with one mouse click and rose rapidly. "I'll be upstairs then," he said quickly and hurried out of the room.

"_I don't know if you remember me, Paul," _Frank's voice sounded tinny from the small speakers on the edge of the screen and I sat down on Logan's swivel chair with great unease.

"_I am Dr. Frank Peterson and I work not on a quite voluntary basis on your project_," the professor explained. He did not look good, pale and haggard, as if he had neither eaten nor slept for several days. _"You must certainly wonder why I am addressing you with this video message, but I simply see no other way than to do this. You have probably already read some of my reports on subject 230208 and also heard a lot of things about him. Certainly you also heard about the unfortunate incident three days ago…"_ He inhaled deeply and trembled. _"I'm not sure if it was also reported to you that they have divested me of the charge of the subject and won't let me work with him anymore. Mr. Gallagher was of the opinion that because of this incident and a couple of other…"_ Frank had significant problems now to go on talking, but he still forced himself to do it. _"…other tests are needed to avert further harm to the local staff. If you ask me, the man is in actual fact on a personal retaliation campaign and in doing so not only jeopardizes the life of the subject but also the success of our whole research so far."_

I wanted to hate and despise Peterson for that comment, but I couldn't. His posture, the despair in his eyes, the trembling of his voice all pointed to the fact that he almost died with concern for Mick. He indeed spoke like a scientist who feared for his precious work, but he looked like an utterly desperate man who tried every argument and knowledge he possessed to help a person who was really near and dear to him.

"_Gallagher will destroy all my work, everything we have fought and worked for. Paul, remember that No. 230208 is the only success that__ we're able to show so far. He's our trump card, our key to any further research. If we lose him, we can start all over again! These… these tests Gallagher is doing are entirely unnecessary and only serve for torturing the subject and trying to break him. I… I will now show you some recordings of the surveillance cameras of the laboratory room in which Gallagher is… working."_ Frank swallowed audibly and I did the same thing in front of the screen. _"See it for yourself. Then maybe you'll come to the right decision." _

* * *

Sometimes life was a real challenge. Just when you thought you'd finally found a safe way through the clutter of your own thoughts and feelings, suddenly one tiny little thing changed and yet again you got sucked into the middle of the whirlpool of the ups and downs, the toing and froing, the wanting and daring.

What Beth wanted was clear to her for quite some time now. What she dared, about this her mind and her emotional side had started to argue since a certain point in time. Precisely since Peterson had told her that Mick had basically almost completely mutated into a human by the cure. A human with small particularities, of course, but a human. Another transformation was in the near future quite unlikely. At least not as long as Mick didn't get overly excited. And he didn't need to necessarily, not _overly_.

Beth inwardly shook her head about herself and the next moment found herself looking yearningly over to the open door of the house. Mick had told her where he would be in the next few hours. It hadn't been a direct invitation to follow him, but he certainly hadn't dropped the remark accidentally. He knew that her self-control currently was in quite a bad state. It almost seemed as if both their libidinal sides had decided to work together and give each other hidden messages whose pull they could barely resist: _Her_ loud, inviting music with appending courtship dance, _his_ remark about his whereabouts, far remote from the house, where no one could disturb them anytime soon.

A small romantic lake, where you could cool off. Nude swimming. Coming closer. Making love passionately on the beach under the hot midday sun. Beth felt hot and cold at the same time and she cast a surreptitious glance at Seth who had ensconced himself with a book in an armchair opposite her. Fortunately, vampires couldn't read minds or the whole thing would have become quite embarrassing for her now. On the other hand, they indeed had quite sensitive senses which could hear the pulse of humans and smell what they felt.

Beth immediately felt her blood shooting up into her face. What if he could smell the arousal that had seized her at her not quite G-rated imagination? She felt suddenly no longer that comfortable in her skin and quickly decided to put a little distance between herself and this nice, innocent young man. As inconspicuously as possible, of course. She put her own book aside, lifted her arms over her head and stretched herself luxuriously. Seth lifted his eyes and gave her a shy smile then he sank his nose back into his reading material.

So she could probably take the next step. She simply rose very relaxed and strolled leisurely over to the door. There she leaned with her shoulder against the frame and stood still, enjoying the warm air from outside which blew over her taut body. She felt that Seth's gaze now rested for a moment on her back but after a little while he lost his interest in her. Wonderful. Then she could go further outside onto the veranda.

Beth hesitated. What exactly was she doing here anyway? Was she seriously just about to launch an escape attempt toward where Mick was? And whom did she want to trick here? Seth or her own mind?

A noise from the hallway inevitably drew her attention. When she turned around, Logan walked into the living room. He was strangely pale and just grazed her briefly with his glance and a fleeting smile. Of course, his way led him as usual to the refrigerator, but something in his behavior was different. He looked so tense, so stressed. She would have never thought that one could even boil the nerves of a Logan Griffen until so soft and asked herself at once how this could have happened so fast. For this moment her inherent curiosity was in fact a bit stronger than her longing for Mick so she walked slowly over to Logan who quickly poured a packet of stored blood into a glass and then emptied it with almost hasty gulps.

"Is everything all right?" she asked, frowning, when she was close enough to him.

Logan put the glass down, but shirked from her scrutinizing look. "Yeah. Why?" Again, the refrigerator opened and the vampire seized another blood bag.

"I don't know. You look so... unhinged." She slightly tilted her head and lifted her brows thoughtfully while examining his sallow face more exactly.

Logan used a simple trick in order to avoid having to answer her: He lifted his newly filled glass again to his lips and drank in long, slow gulps. It didn't really bother Beth. She had enough time and eventually the glass would be empty.

"What's going on?" Beth heard Seth's voice behind her and she felt that he had also approached them.

"Logan is certainly going to tell us this straight away," Beth said off-handedly and crossed her arms over her chest. Logan's big, brown eyes wandered above the edge of the glass from her to Seth and back again. A faint slurping told her that the only reason for him to keep silence was now gone.

The vampire took a deep breath and put the glass back on the shelf. "I'm just taking a short break, that's all," he said angrily. "I don't know what you want from me."

"You are so strangely pale," Seth voiced her thoughts.

"And tense," Beth added.

"And?" Logan raised his eyebrows questioningly. "I'm just a bit overworked. I have a great deal to do. That's the stress!"

"So it has nothing to do with the things you and Josef have done in the basement?" Beth probed.

"Uh... no."

That was such a bad lie that she almost laughed. "So then I can walk downstairs and see what Josef's doing there so completely alone," she said and turned around to go downstairs. As she expected, Logan suddenly grabbed her arm and stopped her. His own reaction, however, startled him so much that he immediately let go of her again as if he had received an electric shock.

Beth put her hands on her hips and gave him such a severe look that the vampire even took a small step backwards. "Logan! You tell me right now what happened downstairs or I'll show you instantly why one shouldn't mess with angry human women!"

The young man struggled with himself for a long moment then he let out a deep sigh of resignation. "Okay," he abandoned the field. "I... I came across a video... a ... about the experiments that were done on ... the vampires. Josef is watching it now."

Beth raised her hand to her lips in horror. "Video," she repeated with a hollow feeling in her stomach. Logan could not look at her anymore but his expression alone betrayed how horrible these recordings had to be.

"Did you know the vampires," she whispered. The young man shocked her again when he completely turned away from her, his gaze lowered. A horrible suspicion forced its way with a vengeance into her mind and intensified the nauseating pressure in her belly.

"Mick," she muttered barely audibly. "Is it Mick?"

A loud rumbling on the steps of the stairway caused Beth to spin round and just a little later Josef stormed past the entrance of the living room and disappeared into the hallway. Beth winced violently as a door slammed shut with such force that some of the plaster from the damaged living room walls crumbled down.

"Now he freaks out," Seth whispered next to her almost admiringly, and his words were confirmed by a whang that could only mean one thing: Josef began to throw the furnishings in one of the other rooms.

Beth listened for a long moment with a wildly beating heart to the scary noises Josef was making. Then she inhaled a trembling breath and began to move mechanically, heading for the hall and the crashing and clattering which seemed to shake the whole building.

"I'd rather not do this, Beth," she could hear Logan say fearfully. "One doesn't interrupt a vampire like Josef in a fit of rage."

Beth looked over her shoulder to Logan. "This is not rage. This is despair," she explained in a breathy voice and simply walked on. Josef was her friend and she wouldn't leave him alone in this state even though the noise which now got ever louder scared her slightly. Her legs felt pretty shaky when she approached the room which had paid for Josef's outburst, but she was convinced that she was doing the right thing. The door was not closed completely. Apparently the lock had not been able to withstand the strength of a vampire fallen into a rage.

Beth was now close enough to hear the animal sounds Josef uttered: grumbling, growling and heavy breathing. There was another crash. Wood splintered under the force of the impact then there was a sudden silence.

Beth stopped a small distance in front of the door and peered through the not-too-narrow gap which provided a good insight into the battlefield Josef had left behind. There was not much left of the old furnishings. Even the bed had lost two of its legs. The mattress was ripped and the stuffing was scattered in white flakes on the dusty floor together with various pieces of wood and splinters. And in the midst of this chaos stood Josef, a little groggy and panting heavily. His deeply shaken gaze was turned to the ground and a light twitching went from his shoulders through his body, brought him to his knees as if he could no longer keep his own body upright and eventually he buried his face in his hands. The twitching of his shoulders got stronger. But it was the suppressed sobbing that ripped Beth out of her frozen state and made her rush into the room. She got down on her knees next to Josef and wrapped her arms around his quivering upper body. Her friend did not fight her embrace as he was at the end of his tether. And she could empathize with him so much, was able to understand what he went through so deeply, even without having seen this horrible video, that she herself soon felt tears running down her cheeks.

"He's doing well again, Josef," she whispered into his ear and gently skimmed over his hair while he was shaking with silent sobs, crying tears of helplessness no one should see. "He's now with us. He's safe. And we'll make sure that no one will ever do something like that to him again."

Josef's chest rose and fell with a heavy breath and he straightened a bit pushing her slightly away from him. He was similarly as pale as Logan, and only then she noticed that he was still in full vampire mode. He ran a trembling hand over his face, wiping all traces of his own despair away and straightened his shoulders. Only then was he capable of responding to her words with a nod.

"We'll give him back his life," he said in a husky voice. But in the next second such a murderous hatred shot through his white eyes that Beth backed up frightened.

"And then we'll take care of those bestial pigs," he hissed through gritted teeth.

Beth wanted to say something, wanted to put her hand reassuringly on his cheek, but Josef was up on his feet at a speed that only vampires owned and straightened his shoulders resolutely.

"I will... will find them, Beth," he said in a trembling voice. "I won't kill them. I will ensure that they stay alive as long as possible so that they learn what it means to have to suffer pain in every imaginable way. They will end up _begging_ to die."

Beth knew nothing to say. How could she? She knew that sometimes cruel fantasies were a good valve to let out anger, fear and despair. Only she could not shake off the feeling that Josef meant his words not only very seriously, but would also put them into action. And that scared her...


	48. Old friends

_*__Hi my dears! Here I am right in time at Sunday to post the new chapter. I really enjoyed your great feedback for the last one and as always hope you'll leave me comments for this one, too. You know… because of my review addiction… ;o) See you at Thursday again! Best wishes, Jenna*_

_ Lucretiareadsall: As you see this is the first of the two chapters you've beta read. The next one I'll post on Thursday. And I thank you so, so much for your help!!_

* * *

**O****ld friends **

My little crash into the realm of the rabid beasts had had something good to be said for that. I was, when I was on my flight back to LA, so much out of steam and cooled down that I was able to plan my further actions almost with my usual cool calmness and composure. I knew that the upcoming meeting would cost me a lot of nerves and decided for that reason to keep any further excitement away from me. So I gave, when I met Guillermo, Max and the rest of his troop beforehand, Kurt the order to contact Alejandro and to get Paul Ritchcroft as quickly as possible by helicopter to a place, I did not know. Although the man seemed to be of the utmost importance for us in our fight against the Legion, it was clear to me that his sight would put me, after watching that video, in such a rage that I could not guarantee anything. I was simply too clearly aware that this man had led the project that had made sure that Mick had fallen into the hands of this sadist Gallagher.

The meeting of the more powerful vampires in LA was held in the _Regno del Cielo_, a club for the privileged and rich ones in the centre of the city, which was part of Anthony Gambino's property - but only unofficially, for the name Gambino was also in human society a red rag and often arranged for increased attention from the police and other authorities. So most of his possessions went by the names of other people, so-called straw dolls which indeed received their regular salary, but had nothing to do with the business.

Tony, as his friends called him, had been betrayed and 'killed' by members of his own family in the thirties during the _War of Castellammare_ - at least it had looked like that to the public, for no one, except a few insiders, had anticipated that Tony had been informed beforehand about the dastardly plan of his own brother's and had been turned into a vampire. After a bloody revenge action, the former mobster had cleared out and had built up a new, quieter life in LA. He had often explained since then that he had broken off his contact with the 'family' because of the betrayal and his attempted murder, but had gotten caught meeting with the one or other 'family member' by several people every now and then. Of course, only a few of his human friends knew about his 'special' way of life, and Tony was such an amazing appearance that certainly no one of the 'knowing-ones' would dare to betray him in human society. But the proven contact with his old 'clan' rather made for a quite dubious reputation in our community. Nevertheless, Tony was one of the most influential and most powerful vampires in the States and thus had to say a lot in our community, like Elizabeth and myself. Because of this alone it was strategically wise to convert him to my column, except I was not yet really aware of how I should do that. I was almost sure I already was in his good books, because he had been one of the first persons I had informed about everything by telephone after Lance's performance in Mexico. But that was all, and Tony was a headstrong, unpredictable man.

I was not sure who else would come to the meeting today and therefore also didn't know how the most ones would react to my appearance. According to Guillermo and Max my reputation had suffered greatly by my arbitrary actions concerning Mick's rescue and by my withdrawal from society. They accused me of having turned my back on the community out of selfishness and fear and having them all left alone in the mud _I_ had caused. Many believed that the aggressive threat, emanating from the Legion for some time past, had been fueled only by my actions and now unfairly hit those vampires who hadn't been involved in them at all. Only a very few could know that the Legion had already for centuries worked repeatedly with riot squads and ad hoc actions, for the majority of the vampire society in LA consisted of quite young vampires.

But in one point they were indeed right: I had at least left the few vampires for the last twelve days in the lurch who had pitted themselves against the Legion together with me in the underground about half a year ago. Strangely, these vampires - except for Henry and Lance – were the ones who had shown me the greatest understanding and an amazing amount of patience so far. All others rather belonged to the mindset of, "You're one of the oldest and most powerful vampires in LA, so come and save us!". And if you didn't comply with their 'modest' wish, they got ugly...

Of course, these vampires could not really scare me, however, for it was always bad to have a larger group of people against oneself, a slight feeling of uneasiness and discomfort arose inside me when I arrived at the _Regno del Cielo_ late in the evening. Guillermo's and Max' presence, with whom I had previously organized and discussed a few important things, helped me a bit to recollect that, as I walked through the door into one of the quieter back rooms of the premium-club, I was able to smile into the inanely faces of the attendants there with an arrogance only Josef Kostan was owning.

There were not as many vampires there as I had expected, and indeed only those who had a say in LA and other cities in the American South. I quickly conceived the idea that this was related to the fact that Tony and Elizabeth didn't like to spend their time on vampires, who in their opinion weren't even close to their level and also wanted to keep our meeting, as explosive as is was, at a certain level. That was quite convenient to me, even if I knew that wealth and power was not necessarily a sign of intelligence and I could spot some people in the small but elegant conference room, I would have liked to cut out.

The fact that I could find among the many vampires, eyeballing me full of mistrust, also Henry's face really surprised me, for Guillermo had told me a few days ago that this cowardly braggart had left the country and had completely rejected the responsibility for the rest of the local vampire community.

"Just strike me pink!" I could now hear the young Mexican murmur next to me. "What is _he_ doing here? This cockalorum... He'll for sure shoot off his mouth the loudest..."

I inwardly agreed to my friend, for I knew Henry well enough to come to the same conclusion. Even if he acted at the moment as if he did not notice me and rather tried to give his best attention and his most beautiful smile to Elizabeth. But with my arrival, it gradually became that silent in the room that he was soon forced to look at me and punish me with a very critical glance.

Thomas pushed past the others with an honest-intentioned beam and immediately offered me his hand in front of all the others as a clear sign of his favor, which I accepted with a smile.

"I'm really glad you could come here," he said aloud and arranged with stern looks that the other attendants cleared the way for us and he could lead me unhampered to Elizabeth and Tony. The Italian got up from his chair with a smile and greeted me, in his special way, with an over-hearty, not really to be taken serious show-embrace.

"Giuseppe, my friend," he laughed and even patted my back with such force, that I prostrated a bit. "The last time we saw each other is so long ago!"

"You weren't here in LA in a long time, Tony," I replied calmly and raised my eyebrows while I briefly fixed my jacket that had lost a bit of its form through the rough welcome. "Were there any difficulties with the family once again?"

"Pshaw! Family!" he replied with a dismissive wave of his hand and grimaced contemptuously. But his dark eyes sparkled with amusement. "For me there's only one family. And that's you, you creatures of the night!" He cut through the air with a wide movement of his arms, and laughed hoarsely. But he got serious much too quickly again and looked at me seriously worried. "But I really worry about them at the moment...," he added much more softly.

"Not without reason, Tony," I replied calmly and registered, that also Elizabeth's searching glance rested on me. "But before we turn our attention to this serious issue, please allow me to pay my oldest and best friend a courtesy visit," I added, and turned to her with my brightest smile. She knew the old ritual between us all too well, returned my smile with a glamour only she owned, and with a graceful movement reached out her delicate hand to me.

"Miss Bathory," I whispered to her with mocked servility, leaned forward and brought her hand to my lips, breathing a tender kiss onto the pale, soft skin. Her green eyes looked at me with an expression of utmost affection and she let her hand linger a little too long in mine to let this still pass as an accident. It was great to feel that the crackling tension between us had not abated, even after all these years.

"I can only align with Thomas," she smiled and now eluded my grip, "it's wonderful that you were able to come here today. Then we can finally clean up in this horrible rumor mill again and provide for discipline and order."

Her tone got a little stricter at her last words and the surrounding vampires respectfully cleared space for the impressive woman as she walked over to her chair and sat down on it. I could understand her anger, for LA actually was not really the area of our society she was responsible for.

Elizabeth had been turned into a vampire in her forties, but looked like in her early thirties and was a really breathtakingly beautiful woman. Thick, dark red hair fell in shining waves on her narrow back and provided a contrast with her light skin that simply _had_ to fascinate every man. She was small and fine-boned in her form, but appeared by her proud, usually very challenging demeanor much taller and scarier than one would suspect at first glance. She was with her almost four hundred and fifty years one of the oldest vampires here in America, perhaps also in the world and was held in high esteem in the community - not only because she belonged to the Council of Elders.

"Sit down please, my friends," Tony invited all the others and the attendants sat down on the other remaining seats, while Elizabeth assigned with an inconspicuous hint a place at her side to me. I was not feeling very well when I sat down in front of all the others, although I could trust the woman and the man at my side - Thomas took a seat right beside me – probably the most of all the people here in the audience. Except for my friends of course, who searched a seat not far away from me, giving me worried glances.

There fell silence in the room surprisingly quickly, a clear sign that most people here probably felt a strong need for enlightenment and new information concerning the vampire-crisis. That way Elizabeth could very quickly rise to speak again.

"As each one of you has gained knowledge in one way or another, about the fact that the Legion is once again on one of their infamous campaigns, I think, we don't need to talk around the issue any longer," she said loudly and clearly. "There are two things that are a little different this time and again should urgently be mentioned - even if not much time is given to us for this meeting. First, the attacks on vampires seem to exceed the usually quite exactly marked-out hunting-areas of the Legion and with that go far beyond the usual level, so that even our friends in Europe are getting nervous, and secondly it seems as if the Legion has divided into two major groups, fighting each other, what could be a significant advantage for us."

"What about this large-scale attack, which is supposed to take place soon?" a tall, slender woman with Chestnut hair she had tied up in a high ponytail asked. She wasn't wearing her usual leather dress, but I was sure that she was one of the troops of the Cleaners. "Is this just a rumor to make us nervous once again, or is there any truth to the rumor this time?"

"We can not exclude this with certainty," Max joined in the conversation from the second row. "But honestly, I don't know at whom the large-scale attack should direct at the moment. We are scattered all over the country and thus provide no real target."

"It's one of the many strategies of the Legion to make us nervous with rumors," added Elizabeth. "It has always been like that. They can use it wonderfully to cover up what they're really planning, because all vampires run away in fear of them, rather than to develop their own plans for fighting against them. And we meet here now to prevent just this."

"After all, they have succeeded in tracking down some of our hiding places in the last weeks and to kill some of us," Henry raised his clear voice warningly and looked around pompously. "That's something we shouldn't forget."

"We don't," Tony replied this time. "To not allow them make us nervous doesn't mean to forget how dangerous the Legion is for us. But to panic only causes discord and treachery in our own ranks, and this is playing directly into the hands of our enemies!"

Thomas agreed with him with an over articulated nod. "We must ensure that the transfer of information between us is working again, that we all work hand in hand and know what the various groups in our community are doing and preparing. We're not allowed to give such rumors the chance to spread. That's the only way to survive the whole thing healthy."

"And how shall the whole thing work?" an Asian-looking vampire in the middle of the room asked. "Who organizes this transfer of information? Who plans the actions against the Legion? To whom can we turn when we are in need?"

"Max agreed together with Patricia to build several special units to fight against the Legion," Thomas said. "You'll soon get an Internet address and a daily changing telephone number to which you can address in adversity. One of the units then will come to your aid. They will also help you to find new hiding places."

"What about blood bags?" another vampire probed nervously. "The Legion has blocked the access to almost all our previous supply stations..."

"I know," Thomas responded with an admirable calmness, "but Guillermo over there...," he pointed at the Mexican who got visibly nervous, when all eyes turned to him, "... has begun building up his own blood bank and is almost ready to release the first emergency packets. Have just a little patience."

"Furthermore we will establish a committee which has to worry about how we can exploit the current situation at best to get rid of the Legion once and for all," Tony knew to report and also surprised me with this announcement. Until very recently everything had looked like chaos and disaster and now...

"We've already converted a few people to it," said the Italian, "but would be happy if a few others of you join us. In this case, I am your contact person."

"And who's keeping track of everything?" Henry probed and I knew exactly what he was driving at, to which topic he wanted to lead over. "Who's accounting for everything?"

"We," Elizabeth raised her voice again. "The Council of Elders."

"So Josef as well?"

Oh, how I hated that slimy guy sometimes.

"As soon as he's able to do so - yes."

"Able to do so?" My red-haired friend looked at me in an extremely provocative way. "What's preventing his current 'employment'?"

"Well, there are a few things he'd come across during his campaigns against the Legion, whose clarification is still taking up a lot of his time," Elizabeth said with a false smile that could almost compete with mine.

"Then it's true," now also the woman from the cleaner team stepped in again - Patricia, if I was not completely wrong.

"What exactly?" Elizabeth looked at her inquiringly.

"That the Legion is doing experiments with vampires for years now, which serve not only for the development of new weapons. They use us as guinea pigs in order to take advantage of our abilities themselves, don't they?"

"What exactly they want is not really clear to us yet, Patricia," Thomas said quietly. "We only know that they had laboratories in which some vampires have died, because they've tampered with their genetics."

"What about your friend, Josef?" of course Henry had to ask me. "Is it true that he's the only one who has survived these experiments?"

I looked at Elizabeth and with a nod of her head she signalized me that I was allowed to speak freely. "This is not quite right," I said. "There is still one other person, who was able to leave one of the laboratories alive."

I noticed that also the vampires beside me looked at me in surprise and couldn't help smiling with pleasure.

"And who would that be?" Henry asked skeptically.

"Coraline DuVall."

A murmur went through the room and Elizabeth raised her hands quickly to avoid a major turmoil. "Can you prove that?" she asked severely, and I nodded.

"Have they done the same things with her as with Mick?" was Henry's next question.

"No," I had to admit. "I hardly think so, because she was only a few weeks there and has disappeared since then. But much more interesting is the question, how she was able to escape."

"One step at a time," unfortunately, Tony had to mess up the work and Elizabeth gave me a strangely warning glance. The topic 'betrayal' was probably none that my friends wanted to address here.

"So the story about your friend is true?" Tony asked me instead.

"It depends on what story you mean," I replied. "It's said that there're a few floating about."

"Did he go insane there?" another voice called from the crowd. "It's said that he's completely irresponsible and would even attack other vampires."

"Yeah," another one joined in, "and he would own powers that exceed those of most vampires by far!"

"Is it true that you keep him in a basement, bound in chains?"

"Does he really only drink vampire blood anymore?"

The questions became more and more fantastic and soon I was sitting there with my mouth open and could not believe that civilized city vampires were that prone to fairy tales and other madness.

"Quiet please!" Tony's sonorous voice pierced through the noise and silenced the mob instantly. "We're not getting any place that way!"

Even if the other vampires bowed to the authority of the elders, I could feel exactly how tense and upset they were all at once. The glances they cast at me were anything but of a benevolent nature. I even meant to see open anger and hostility in the eyes of the one or the other.

"Josef," Thomas addressed me now, "what we need are clear and as precise answers as possible to the most important questions we have on this matter. This topic is a quite sensitive one and frightens many of us."

That was not to be overlooked. I nodded my understanding and my old friend took a deep breath.

"Correct me, please, if I say something wrong," he told me before he turned his face back to the others.

"The Legion - or rather a part of it - has for several years made experiments with vampires, with the likely aim to confer our strength on normal mortals, without turning them into vampires. They didn't get that far yet and almost all captured vampires lost their lives in the process... except for Mick St. John. Josef has managed to free his friend from the captivity of the Legion about two weeks ago and to hide him in a safe place. And he's alive and is recovering slowly - is that correct?"

I nodded restrained.

"What exactly has been done to him?" a pretty Blondie asked me. I meant to have seen her somewhere before. Possibly one of my many meaningless affairs. I knew that it was essential that I gave the other vampires at least a part of my information, but the reluctance to provide someone external even the slightest insight into Mick's ordeal was so great that I breathed no sound. The terrible images from the video were much too present, my friend's nerve-wracking screams of pain had not really died away...

"The scientists of the Legion had to assess that you can not bring a human in contact with the blood of a vampire, without turning him into one," Elizabeth's gentle voice was heard beside me. "And since it's not possible to square experiments on healthy humans with their ethical principles, they have first tried to retransform a vampire into a human and then to change him genetically that way, that he becomes kind of a hybrid..."

I had to admit that I was surprised by her knowledge. I had assumed that the group that had several months ago begun to observe the machinations of the Legion and to use its current weakness in order to disempower them once and for all would also go on without me. That they would be that successful, however, and would get at so many, accurate information with no support on my part - that I wouldn't have expected.

"Is this, what he's now?" Henry asked with audible discomfort in his voice. "A vampire-human hybrid?"

"Yeah," I now answered myself and looked at him firmly. "But that was not the proper aim of the Legion. They wanted to destroy the vampire within him and only retain his supernatural powers."

"And this didn't happen?"

"No. Mick is currently both human _and_ vampire."

"What does that mean?" Gilbert Feery, one of my occasional business partners, whom I had not noticed before, asked. "That he's still one of us and must drink blood?"

"Among other things," I replied calmly.

"That means he has not become a homicidal maniac through all these tests?" Henry asked, and my need to shut him up by stuffing a hank of his own hair into his cheeky mouth, increased from minute to minute.

"He's now in full command of his mental and physical faculties again - if you wanted to learn this with your subtle question." Sometimes it could really hurt to smile. "I don't want to pretend that there weren't any problems at first," I said now to all others. "Mick was in a pretty bad state at the beginning and, if you ask me, it's a little wonder that he survived at all. Of course, it was quite a challenge for him to get used to his new condition, but he has succeeded and he's to no one here a danger anymore."

"And those stories about his super powers?" probed another, slightly narrower built vampire in the back part of the room.

"Are only that - just stories." How beautiful it was, that as an experienced vampire one could lie, without delivering any suspicious stir.

"And why is there this whole fuss with the Legion?" Gilbert seemingly didn't want to get calmed so quickly. "Can you imagine at all what was going on here when you disappeared with your friend? The Legion ran amok, carried out real raids and killed many vampires. They threatened to kill off all vampires in LA, if they don't get back this doctor and St. John as quickly as possible!"

"And? Did it happen?" I asked arduously composed.

"No," Thomas said quickly, before anyone could answer me differently, "they have calmed down and are now more cautious than before."

"Of course it was again one of their tricks," Henry replied. "But the question is: What motivated the Legion to put up such a fuss because of just _one_ vampire?"

"It's because of _two_ people, Henry," I answered with a saccharine smile, "and one of them is a doctor on whose work their complete research is based. He has the far greater value for them than Mick. And Mick... he's the only person they can chalk up kind of a success with - of course they want him back to continue their research."

"Why have you taken the doctor along at all," said Gilbert reproachfully. The Legion seemed to have him scared quite strongly with their recent actions.

"Because Mick's survival depended on him," I growled and bit back the 'you idiot' that was already on my tongue. "In addition, it can only be an advantage for us if the Legion can no longer continue with their perverse research! Or do you see that any different?"

Gilbert sank back into his chair and said nothing anymore. Unfortunately I had not been able yet to shut all people up.

"And what about Lance?" The Blondie from the center asked hesitantly. "What exactly did upset him that much?"

I gave her such a dark look, that she as well got very small in her chair. Pleasing, that most vampires here had not yet lost their respect to me. "Lance appeared at a time when my friend wasn't really well yet," I explained, trying not to let my reluctance to answer the question pierce through too clearly.

"Did St. John really attack him?" asked another vampire more curious than frightened.

I took a deep breath. "First of all, Lance and his friends had attacked _us_! We had to defend ourselves! And, yes, there was a moment in which Mick has bitten another vampire. But I think that everyone of us who has been involved in a fight with another vampire has done this before."

"It is said that he drained him," Henry said with reproachfully raised eyebrows.

I uttered an angry laugh. "That's ridiculous. Why would he do that?"

Of course my red-haired 'friend' couldn't answer this question and looked instead around for the others attendants, shrugging.

I heard Elizabeth inhaling beside me. "What is definitely sure is that Lance reported the whole thing to _Him_ and caused quite a turmoil among the vampires all over the world," she said seriously. "Just as well as it's sure that _He_ in person will soon pay a visit to Josef to take a look at Mick St. John and to decide what will happen to him."

I could feel a great disturbance spreading among the other vampires, without getting heard on the surface. Even if I had informed some of them personally of the events in advance and even invited them to the meeting to support my site, the fewest seemed to feel really comfortable with this situation.

"The question is whether we want to accept that," Elizabeth continued. "The Europeans have stayed out of all matters and problems in the States for a very long time and have always made it clear that they're going their own way. They've not only accepted the Council but also devolved the entire responsibility for the local community to it with great joy. And now they want to override us suddenly and arbitrarily decide the fate of a vampire from our midst."

"Are you seriously asking us to gang up against _Him_?" Henry asked with an incredulous laugh. "Just to protect Josef's friend?"

"It is not about plotting against _Him_," Thomas intervened again and looked surprisingly excited by his standards. "To risk a split within the vampire community in this situation would be a fatal mistake. But that doesn't mean we have to simply accept an arbitrary action of the Europeans. The idea is to take up a united position towards them and to show them that we also have to say something in this matter."

"They can not simply come here and behave as the sovereigns of the world after they've clearly shown in the course of several centuries again and again that they don't care about us," now Anthony raised his deep voice again. I felt better from second to second. I had not expected that the three most important people in our vampire community stood that unitarily behind me in this matter.

"But this time they _did_ cooperate with us," Henry replied indignantly, and proved clearly what I had suspected much earlier: He was one of these sycophants that always sidled up to those people, who possessed in his opinion the greatest power among the vampires. He probably saw Lance as a springboard to catapult himself into the exclusive circle around_ Him_.

"And even before St. John reappeared again," he continued excitedly. "Lance has been half a year in LA and has worked with Josef and me, at least so far that we have received some important information about the Legion from him."

"Some important information?" I repeated scornfully. "We have received the list from him, Henry. But that's all. Otherwise, _he_ has only gotten information from _us_! I would not call this a close cooperation."

"I agree with you," Elizabeth supported me instantly. "And it seems as if they've even now no real desire to let us into their plans. After all, we've learned of the meeting only by Josef. And what is even more important..." I felt that she looked at me directly and immediately turned my face to her. "... They're going to arrive here yet in three days and then immediately set out for your hideout, Josef."

My heart cramped and then stopped for a few seconds, only to go on pounding then at a pace that could not be healthy even for vampire. I wanted to say something, wanted to ask where she got this information from, but my throat was suddenly that dry that I couldn't utter a single sound. The three-week time deadline had not elapsed yet. This was a breach of our bargain...

"I also have a few connections to Europe," Elizabeth explained to all of us. "And I know that I can rely fully on their assertions. The meeting was moved up without consultation with anyone here in LA and as far as I know, just because Lance has learned that you've invited some vampires of the Council and even some other powerful vampires from California to the meeting, Josef."

This time, the anxiety and excitement of the others was also outwardly noticeable. An excited murmur soon filled the entire room, while I just tried to think straight again and to digest this new, extremely frightening information.

"Then... then we must preempt them," suggested suddenly a vampire from the middle of the crowd and in doing so launched the next blow at me. "We simply arrange a meeting for us a day earlier, and get an idea of St. John and the entire laboratory story ourselves..."

The murmur of approval and nodding of the others almost drove me crazy and I had considerable difficulties to hide my inner tension and nervousness from the others.

"This thought came to our minds as well," I heard Thomas say next to me and I even had to force me to meet him with a relatively friendly gaze. "We don't want to act as judges, Josef," he said softly. He probably felt exactly what kind of problems I had with this idea. "We just would like to get an idea of the whole situation and all the associated problems, so we can act in front of _Him_ as a unified group with a preferably common opinion. That's all."

Basically, I could understand this line of thought, too, and even regarded it in the light of new developments as the only logical step - but I knew that Mick was not ready to deliver himself up to such a large group of for him, mainly foreign vampires. This horrific video had opened my eyes. It had made perfectly clear to me that all his progress, his regained control of his vampire side were only the beginning of a probably very long-term healing process and that he in no case could measure up a real eruption of his trauma. Not after what he had had to go through. The meeting of vampires in our house was, therefore, an extreme challenge. In the last twelve days Mick had only been with a small number of mostly familiar persons and even these had overwhelmed him at first...

"Josef?" A small female hand was put on my arm and pulled me out of my sorrowful thoughts that way. I noticed only now that it was again surprisingly quiet in the room and the attention of all attendants rested on me alone. I had to come to a decision. Now. So I drew a deep breath and did the only thing that made sense: I nodded.

"There's probably no other way," I added to my gesture.

I felt the relief flowing through the two vampires beside me, and knew that they had expected more resistance on my part and a much longer struggle with me. But it would have been simply stupid to revolt against the will of all the other ones. That way I had at least another two days to develop a contingency plan in case that the meeting lead to a catastrophe. Unfortunately the chances for this were relatively high. Only no one should know this.

"Well," Tony said. "Then we will be holding a meeting tomorrow evening. Of course, only with a small part of the attendants here. And you're going to send Thomas and Elizabeth the address of the location then?"

I nodded restrained and saw Thomas looking at the clock.

"I think we should slowly end this meeting here," he said aloud. "We are approaching a full hour, and in our experience it's better to stay these times in this time frame, if so many vampires are gathered in one location. We're a too good target for the Legion. Everything else regarding the next meeting and any personal questions, we'll reason out with the use of the modern technology."

There was again a little unrest and protest, but most of the vampires rose up readily and were about to leave the confined space as quickly as possible. They knew that Thomas was quite right with his remark, and that it was wiser to follow this sapient, experienced man.

Max and Guillermo were waiting at the door for me, but just when I wanted to get up, Elizabeth bent towards me. "It would be great if you could come with us so that we can discuss a few important things among the Council members who are present here," she said in a hushed voice, and in doing so made it clear to me that they had important information for me that the normal 'infantry' should not receive. It had appeared quite strange to me that the meeting had been ended that quickly - now I understood why. However, I did not really know if this was a good or a bad sign. Still, I smiled at her and nodded.

"I always love to be abducted by you," I replied with a slightly salacious voice, and she gave a high, clear laugh. But her eyes remained serious and told me that our next conversation would quite certainly not belong to the range of casual chats.


	49. Heat

_*__As I have promised, here's the next chapter. This time with Mick and Beth. Thanks again for your feedback. I always love to read what you think about the new chapters – so it would be great if you leave me also a comment for this one. And a lot of thanks to my helpers Lucretiareadsall and SG9196. (And Lucretia, it's great to hear that you'll have time again for the beta reading!) See you all at Sunday again! Best wishes, Jenna*_

* * *

**H****eat**

It was hot. Uncomfortably hot, even for a human. It was not that dry intense heat that was normal for the desert region, but an unusually damp, oppressive heat that had built up under the darkening sky, and caused your clothes to stick to your body. Even if you spent only a few minutes without an air conditioner, every piece of clothing, no matter how thin it was, became an intolerable nuisance. The ground Beth was walking over, on her way to the farmhouse, was in contrast to the air, terribly dry. The sand thrown up by her steps settled on her moist skin in a thin layer, making it even more unpleasant. Soon she would look like a miner after a twelve-hour shift. And this, after she had only recently started to feel like an attractive young woman again...

The day had not started out particularly well. The previous evening had been anything but peaceful. Josef's outburst and his enforced departure by the other vampires had made her nervous and antsy. Usually Beth was pretty good at distracting herself from the problems, but this house and the environment offered no opportunity for it. She couldn't allow herself the pleasure she was longing for the most. She hadn't been able to suppress her deep seated fears and anxieties. Instead, she had begun to develop her own plans, behind the backs of the others, such as how she could attend the vampire meeting without being detected. She also had to consider what options she had, to rush to Mick's and Josef's aid if needed and how she could quickly disappear with them. She hadn't been able to rid her mind of these thoughts at night. Of course, this had not been the only reason she had not been able to sleep.

Mick had reappeared by late evening, and had taken the rest of the salad to his room. He hadn't showed his face for the rest of the evening. This had been okay with her and she would have been able to cope with it, if he hadn't, just before he had disappeared into the hallway, given her that 'look'... that look that said, 'I yearn for you and can hardly bear to stay away from you'. A mirror of her own feelings.

She had been lying in bed, wide awake, agitated and her heart had made a leap each time she had heard a noise in the hall – the whole night long. Secretly she had hoped that maybe Mick would give in to his instincts and come to her to get what he needed. She wouldn't have stopped him – her own desire for physical closeness burned too strongly inside her. But he had not come, had left her alone with her fears and painful needs. There were ways for a woman to release some of the sexual tension, but it wasn't really the same, and in her case only a drop in the ocean, and it would only fuel her desire rather than weaken it.

Sometime in the early morning hours Beth had fallen asleep and had just woken up around noon. According to Seth's statement Mick had disappeared earlier into the barn to continue conditioning his human body under Peterson's medical supervision. August and Hendrik, who had been on night shift, had gone to their freezers. Logan sat, as usual, at his computer and Seth... yes, Seth, had been the only one who had agreed to keep her company while eating breakfast. Beth had quickly grown fond of him. He acted so human that she kept forgetting he too was a vampire. So much so that she had reacted with surprise when he had politely declined her invitation to accompany her on a little walk.

The walk had done her good, after the exhausting night, it had distracted her a little from her worries - at least initially. But after a while her thoughts had again started to revolve around this one person she would rather not think of, and she had decided to again seek the company of other people. People she hadn't know that well but with whom she could discuss other subjects. People such as the Rojas family. Of course, Isabella's and Alejandro's first questions were mainly about Mick and his current health situation, followed by questions regarding Josef and where the newest problems stood. After they had sat down together in the better air-conditioned living room and had discussed all other important matters, the conversation had drifted into a shallower, more comfortable direction. At some point Alejandro had gone outside with his son and Isabella had asked Beth, like a concerned mother, about her life among so many men. As a result they had ended up standing in front of the closet of the good-hearted woman, looking for things that would spice up Beth's currently rather dreary wardrobe a little bit.

And now she walked, clad in a beautiful, breezy summer dress, through this hot muggy air, laden with a small suitcase full of other wonderful things. She was irritated that this beautiful garment had already picked up so much dust and sweat that it would probably be unwearable the next day without washing it first. She lifted her head, when a low rumble resounded from the dark clouds above her, and wondered how long it would be before the sky had mercy on them and opened its gates to cool down the heated earth with its floodwaters. It did not look like it would be a quick downpour, but rather a powerful thunder-storm forcing its way toward them. That thought alone made her pick up her tempo, even though it was terribly hot, and hurry towards the flat building, which was growing closer with each step. It is pretty well known that you shouldn't be out in the open during a storm... much less on top of a building in this terrain, like the tall guy who was walking around on the roof of their porch!

Beth stopped for a moment with her mouth open trying to understand what she was looking at. She had probably been away a bit longer than she had thought, because the people who were now engaged there on the porch had – except for Seth - not been there when she had left the house. Seth handed a few boards up to Mick while Peterson paced up and down in the front of the porch like a concerned father, periodically dispensing well-meant tips and warnings.

Beth cowered slightly as thunder rumbled in the sky above her and felt an urgency to get this unreasonable, big boy down from the roof. What a lunatic! Now he had even picked up the hammer to begin cheerfully nailing down one of the boards on the roof.

"And just what you think you're doing up there?" it burst out of Beth angrily when she was close enough, and caused all of them to pause in their movements.

"We... we're attaching a camera with motion detector to the roof," Seth explained to her proudly, taking a step toward her, but then immediately backed up into the shadow of the roof, because even the subdued light was still too bright for him. He was pointing with a finger upwards and Beth indeed discovered a small black device with a lens that was pointing at her. Of course her gaze did not stick with this device, but wandered straight towards Mick, who eyed her with undisguised interest. From this point of view he certainly had a pretty good insight into the cleavage of her new dress. At least, he seemed to like what he was seeing, because one corner of his mouth lifted into this lopsided grin she loved so much and she simply had to return it.

"Josef's helicopter was just here," Seth tried to draw her attention to him again, "and a strong, not very talkative guy brought us a couple of boxes of material. We'll equip the house and possibly the surrounding area as quick as possible with cameras and motion detectors."

Beth forced herself to break eye contact with Mick and to step up to Seth onto the porch. "Then Josef's meeting with the vampires probably didn't go that well," she said worried.

Seth shrugged. "No idea. I talked to him on the phone briefly and he said we shouldn't worry – that he has everything under control. He'll arrive here in about two hours and then he'll tell us everything."

Beth winced. But this time not because of the approaching storm, but because Mick began to wield the hammer again. She furrowed her brows angrily. "What's he doing up there? The camera's already attached!"

"Yes, but he noticed that the entire roof of the house has a few holes and he wanted to patch them before it starts to rain."

Her eyes widened in horror. "The holes on the _entire_ roof?"

"I reacted the same way," she could hear Peterson's voice behind her and turned to him. The professor looked tired and worn out - like a stressed out father whose lively child had severed his last nerve with his reckless actions... He indeed had to feel like that...

"I'm almost done," Mick's slightly irritated voice was heard from above and Seth nodded approvingly as Beth looked at him skeptically.

"This is the last one."

"And why did _he_ of all people have to be the one to climb up there?" she asked a lot quieter. "The roof doesn't look very solid..."

"Because Logan and I can't tolerate the sun," Seth said in an almost apologetic tone. "And Frank's not that young anymore. Besides, Mick was thrilled to be able to work with his hands again..."

Of course, he was. At the moment she even felt like doing something like this. It was productive, distracting and you could dissipate excess energy, reduce tension and so on...

The peal of thunder above them this time not only caused Beth to wince but also caused new lines of worry on her forehead. She shook her head and turned her gaze to the roof above her. "Mick, you have to get down from there now ..."

She broke off, when two long legs pushed over the edge of the roof a second later. Mick let himself fall with the grace of a feline predator onto the stairs before her and then drew himself up to his full height. He not only had the body of an athlete, he also moved like one. This irresistible smile, this deep look into her eyes... Beth's heart began to beat wildly with joy and her throat constricted instantly. He was much too close and still not close enough...

"Are you done with everything?" Seth tried to catch Mick's attention, but didn't get very far with that.

"New dress?" it slipped softly from Mick's lips, while his eyes roamed over her body once again. Beth couldn't help it: she just _had_ to do the same. The plain white T-shirt that he wore stuck so wonderfully to his damp skin, revealing so much of his delicious body... Without having any control over it, the corners of her mouth lifted up into a moronic-salacious smile. She was just not capable of doing anything else.

"Mick?" That was Seth's second attempt to gain his attention and this time he was a little more successful. The addressed person at least looked past her shoulder and in doing so freed her for a moment from his spell.

"If you're ready," she could hear Seth ask, as she noticed Frank coming up the stairs behind Mick. He looked even paler and more stressed than before.

"Let's go inside, Beth," Frank said and linked arms with her and in a surprisingly firm grip, turned her around and lead her into the house. She noticed that Mick was engaged in conversation with Seth, and with a mixture of relief and disappointment bowed to the will of the others.

Beth had expected that the interior of the house would at least provide some cooling, but this wasn't the case. Here, too, the heat of the day had accumulated and enveloped her like a heavy, warm coat, making Frank's firm grip become quite uncomfortable for her - right up to the moment she noticed that the old man was not just clinging to her so much as he was holding on to her to keep his own body upright. When she stopped in astonishment, his eyes rolled in his pale face and he slumped against her. Beth raised her arms quick-witted, seized his thin shoulders and braced herself against him.

"Oh my God, Frank!" she cried out in horror and he opened his eyes with effort, fought bravely against the impending collapse.

"Don't ..." he uttered feebly and held fast to her upper arms. "I'm okay..."

She shook her head in despair and wanted to call Mick, but there was no need. She heard quick footsteps behind her, then he was beside her, he grabbed Frank's arm, turned the wavering man around to him, and freed her from his weight.

"I told you not to stay in the sun that long without a hat," he warned the much older-looking man. "Are you feeling nauseous and dizzy?"

Frank blinked a few times and licked his dry lips. "Yeah, could be a sunstroke..."

Mick nodded and gently put Frank's arm around his shoulder. He then turned to Seth, who had entered the house with him. "Get me a large glass of water and a wet cloth. It should preferably be lukewarm, not cold. We'll take him to his room..." He looked at Beth encouragingly and she hurried, without wasting another word, into the hallway and headed for the professor's room. Fortunately, this room was at the back of the house. A part of the house which the sun had not directly shown on before the storm had approached. So the temperatures there were much lower than in the living room. Beth folded back the thin blanket on his bed and piled up two pillows which were there. Somewhere she had once read that one should elevate the head of a person who had had a sunstroke...

Mick was, in spite of the professor's wobbly state, standing by her again very soon. He looked really worried and Beth could understand this. The old man gave a pretty critical looking impression. He could barely keep his eyes open, was ashen and trembling, as Mick lowered him gently on the bed. Beth helped by adjusting the pillows under the professor's head and removing his shoes so he could stretch out completely.

"Where are your meds?" she could hear Mick ask softly. Frank raised his heavy eyelids and pointed languidly to the small cabinet beside his bed.

Beth opened one of the drawers without further request and noticed the rolled up syringe bag that Peterson always used for Mick, and two small boxes with tablets.

"The one he needs is _Dihydroergotamine_," Mick said to her as she took both into her hands. She nodded and handed him the appropriate box, forcing herself inwardly to push back all the questions that haunted her mind. It was odd to see Mick and Frank this way... so twisted, so turned around...

Seth appeared in the doorway, in one hand a glass of water and in the other a dripping cloth like Mick had asked for. Mick only needed to look at him invitingly and the young vampire was at his side. Mick shook a small tablet into the palm of his hand and then took the glass of water out of Seth's hand, while Beth helped Frank to sit up a bit. Quickly, medicine and liquid had disappeared into the frail man and he could now sink back down into the pillows, exhausted. Mick cautiously took off his glasses and then laid the wet cloth on his forehead. The old man heaved a sigh of relief and closed his eyes.

"Is... is he seriously ill?" Seth asked in a shaky voice and nervously ran a hand over his forehead and cheek. "Is it infectious?"

Mick frowned, and finally quirked one of his eyebrows up slightly. "Seth... you're a vampire! You can't get sick!"

"I know, but I... I feel so... so wrung out." He did indeed look quite pale and sickly, Beth had to admit. Not like an ordinary vampire. However, Mick could not hold back a chuckle.

"It's because you're a vampire, and were out there in this real scorcher little too long," he explained patiently. "You should drink some blood and then hop into one of the freezers..."

Seth's face brightened at these words. "Yeah, this could be the reason," he noted pleased, but then instantly got serious again. "But I can't leave you alone with the poor, sick man. You need my help."

Mick shook his head. "He only has a sunstroke. It's affecting him even more because he also suffers from low blood pressure – that's all. We'll be fine, you can leave."

"You sure?" One could see all too clearly how much the young vampire longed for the coolness of a freezer and Beth couldn't blame him. She even felt like jumping into one of these cooling machines for at least a few seconds. She was sweating as if she'd run a marathon for over an hour.

"I'm sure," Mick confirmed once again.

"Then... I'm headed downstairs," Seth beamed and moved backwards towards the open door. "So if you need me..."

"... we know where to find you," Beth finished his sentence and was rewarded for this with a last affectionate smile. She sat down next to Frank on the edge of the bed and noticed that he had opened his eyes again. His almost paternal and tender glance rested on Mick, who now also sat down on the edge of the bed. The old man, at least felt well enough again to manage a small smile.

"Now _I_'m the patient and _you_'re the doctor," he brought out with a slightly scratchy voice and caused Mick to utter this soft laugh, which always let one of these small, pleasant showers trickle through Beth's body.

"I always forget that you've been in the medical field and are anything but a layman," Frank continued and sighed softly. "Thanks for the quick help..."

Mick grimaced and waved it aside. "It wasn't that dramatic," he said casually, expertly hiding the fact that he had indeed been quite worried about the professor. Not without reason. Older people usually don't cope with heat and cold as well as young people and could well lose their lives in a circulatory collapse. Beth didn't want to think about what this could have meant for Mick and them all. In the near future they had to care for the professor a bit better, had to make sure that he ate regularly and got enough sleep. He was simply too important for Mick, quite apart from the fact that Mick surprisingly also seemed to cling emotionally to him. This showed the benevolent expression in his eyes and the gentle smile he was giving the professor. The two had built quite a strange relationship between them, and Beth was unable to make heads or tails of it.

Frank languidly closed his lids for a moment, but then looked at Mick again, this time far more worried than before. "But you go take care of yourself, will you?" he demanded from him. "You were in the sun just as long as I was..."

"I'm fine, Frank," Mick replied, smiling.

"No excess energy?"

Mick shook his head. "I'm probably too human at the moment..."

Frank gave him a long, very thoughtful look. "If this lasts too long..."

Mick did not let him finish his sentence. "I know."

"If you feel tired and worn out... or get a fever....."

"I know where the bag is and what I have to take. But this won't happen that soon. You can relax. Sleep a bit..."

Frank still could not close his eyes. Instead, he looked at Beth. "Do you have an eye on him?" he asked and Beth registered that Mick briefly rolled his eyes.

She tried not to smile as she answered. "Of course, Frank."

"But you should also not use it too early," the old man brought out only slowly. The tiredness came over him now with a vengeance. "We must go easy with this..."

"We will," Mick replied softly and Frank finally closed his eyes. His chest heaved in a deep breath then he lay still, breathing quietly and regularly.

Beth frowned. The last words that had fallen between Mick and Frank disturbed her. They had clearly exchanged something that was unknown to her, but appeared to be associated with a problem. Her gaze roamed into the still open drawer, and stuck to the rolled-up syringe bag. An unpleasant thought made its way up into her mind.

"What exactly does he mean by 'going easy with it'?" she whispered to Mick and he broke away only with difficulty from the professor's face and his own thoughts.

For a moment it seemed as if he didn't want to answer her question. He pursed his lips and avoided her questioning gaze. But then he shook his head almost unnoticeable and took a deep breath. "When Frank escaped with me, it was clear to him that we would not get far without the necessary meds," he whispered, and now looked at her again. "He'd planned our escape long and very carefully and of course took a lot of meds along..." Mick's hesitation told Beth that now the unpleasant part of his explanation would follow. "However, they are bound to run out sometime."

Beth's eyes widened and a nasty knot formed in her intestines. "God... I never thought about that," she stammered, horrified. Now she understood why Frank had urged so strongly to give Mick's body a chance to regulate everything by itself. They could not afford a dependence on meds for much longer...

"How..." She had to clear her throat, because her voice did not really want to tag along anymore. "How long will it last?"

"There's currently enough there, Beth," Mick tried to calm her quietly. But he didn't really succeed. The excitement that came over her body drove again beads of sweat onto her forehead.

"That's not a very good answer, Mick," she uttered just as quietly.

He let out an irritated sigh. "Four weeks, okay?" he hissed at her. "He told me so this morning."

"And then what?" Beth simply had to ask. This whole thing scared her deeply. Another problem they had not factored in and it could develop into a considerable threat. "What do we do then?"

"Four weeks is a long time, Beth," Mick replied trying hard to stay calm. "And Frank said he already has an idea how he can get new medicine."

"What idea?" she bored on and tried hard to suppress the need to grab Frank by his collar and shake him to get the much needed information.

"He has an ally in the research team of the Legion," Mick said in a whisper, because the professor had stirred a little in his sleep. "He only has to find a way to contact him. There's no reason to be worried!"

"But the research team no longer exists," she murmured to him. "They're all on the run!"

Mick leaned slightly forward to her to keep his voice low despite his own excitement. "Do you seriously believe they left all their results and materials behind? That all their longstanding work would count for nothing! No. They're waiting out there somewhere for the opportunity to rise again and continue their work! You don't know these people. You didn't experience them."

Beth did not know what to say to that. So she turned her gaze to the floor and closed her eyes briefly. She had only then realized how selfish it was of her to get that excited in front of him. If the idea that the meds were running short put that much strain on _her_, what effect must it be having on Mick? It was _his_ life which depended on these medicines! And basically he was right with every word. To hit the panic button now made no sense. A lot could happen in four weeks and if Frank really had an ally in the Legion who could possibly get to the meds... She was just so terribly thin-skinned at the moment. And this weather, the heat, all the sweat and dust on her body, mixed with this mental stress...

She took a deep breath and then lifted her gaze. Mick was still looking at her. He was now also worrying about her, and she certainly didn't want to cause him additional stress.

"I'm sorry," she whispered ruefully. "I'm just so..." She let out breath resigned, for lack of words. "I don't think Frank is the only one who's burdened by this weather," she finally said with half a smile, and brought again a little brightness back into Mick's face. "I think what I need now is a cold shower. Then my mind will work better."

Now, his lips lifted into a warm smile and instantly the fluttering in her belly was back – in addition to her wracked nerves. Oh, yes, a cold shower was really long overdue!

"I'll stay a little bit longer with him," Mick said with a nod in Frank's direction. "To make sure he sleeps deep enough to ignore the storm."

As if to emphasize his words a loud rumbling sounded from outside. But the professor did not stir.

"Okay," she said, nodding. "If you need me, I'm..." She soon broke off the sentence, as Mick's brows lifted a little and his smile became a broad grin, making it clear to her how wonderfully one could misinterpret her words. The blood immediately shot into her face.

"I mean..." She was desperately looking for better words, but then gave up. "I...I'm... going now," she stammered, and walked as fast as possible out of the room. Why did she always revert into this teenage behavior? She was a grown woman, good Lord! Why couldn't she behave like one?

In the corridor she stopped once more and tried to collect herself, to settle the thoughts and feelings currently upsetting her and to tell herself everything would be okay, that it wasn't all that bad at the moment. The stifling heat had indeed put a strain on all of them but hadn't harmed anyone seriously. Frank was slowly getting better and Mick looked as healthy as he did the day before. Josef had not been torn apart by the Council of the Vampires, and would soon be with them again with new - hopefully good - information. And concerning the limited amount of Mick's meds... this problem _she_ for sure had no control over in any case. Not to mention the fact that they had a bit more time before they would have to really worry about it. So with all objections behind her, she could now allow herself a break and take a cool shower.

Beth straightened her shoulders determined and walked towards the area of the corridor that ended in one of the two bathrooms of the house. Her longing for the clean, cool water increased with every step she took and when she finally closed the bathroom door behind her, she was already quite antsy. However, she first cast a glance outside the window of the side wall, to see how the storm had developed.

The rumbling that came from the blackness of the sky above the house was now so loud that the little window in the bathroom seriously vibrated and Beth held her breath for a moment, listening to the soft, rhythmic tapping sound on the roof. It had finally started to rain.

It had become dark outside, even though it was only late afternoon. The low trees and bushes, which she could see from her vantage point, bent under a strong gust of wind, while the first heavy drops burst against the window. She felt this energy tingling inside her, that always struck her when nature exhibited its mighty forces with a vengeance and showed what slumbered in it. Beth thought for a moment about going out and letting the slowly increasing rain wash the sweat and dirt from her body, but then quickly cast the idea aside, as a bright flash of light from a bolt of lightening lit up the sky. Of course the forces of nature were always beautiful to watch, but they also contained a certain unpredictability. So she peeled her dress and underwear off her sticky skin and… froze, shocked.

There had been a shadow of a dark figure pass by her window in a rush. She quickly covered the front of her naked body with her dress and peered out cautiously. If any of the other men in this house had watched her, there would soon be another thunderstorm. One inside the house which would rival the bad weather out there...

It was none of the men she would have expected... It was Mick who was walking right into the now quite heavy downpour, into the storm raging around him. Beth's heart rate accelerated immediately. There was something wrong. He had just been sitting on Frank's bed. Was he having a panic attack?

She hurriedly pulled her dress over her head and ran out of the bathroom, headed directly for the back door, through which Mick for sure had rushed out. Her thoughts spun out of control. Did he remember something bad? Did Frank's constitution upset him more than he had admitted? Or her stupid fears? Was he transforming right now again?

To her relief, she could tell, when she got outside, that he had not gone far from the house. And he didn't look as if he felt bad - neither physically nor emotionally. As far as she could tell, he just laughed and turned his face with an expression of sheer fascination to the black sky. Beth slowed down a bit. He had not yet seen her, and she didn't want to scare him.

A feeling of a quite different nature spread inside her, as Mick grabbed the hem of his soaked T-shirt, pulled it with one fluid motion over his head and let it fall to the ground. She stopped dead in her tracks and held her breath as he tilted his head back and stretched out his arms to take in the energy, the vitality of this storm with every fiber of his body.

It was one of the most beautiful and erotic sights that was ever been revealed to her in her life. The sky had now opened its gates wide and sent the water in such thick drops towards the ground that she was soaked to the bone in only seconds. But that didn't bother her at all, as long as she could watch Mick standing there in the middle of this storm with his arms wide open, his face raised to the sky and finally enjoying the feeling of being alive. His eyes were closed and a happy smile was shown on his lips as the rain ran in small streams down his face and his bare torso. Now and then a flash threw its bright light on his wet skin, playing with the contours of this beautiful body and giving him an almost eerie luster.

The desire came back – quickly, too quickly. How could such a sight leave her cold, how could she resist this temptation after they had both been lurking around each other for days now, barely able to hold on to their crumbling reason? Beth was, by now, so unstrung that this sight alone was enough to cause an aroused pulsation in her body, this cozy heat in her lower abdomen, this wet warmth between her legs, previously only physical contact with a male had been able to cause. The forced distance to Mick in the past days and especially in the last few hours had almost felt like torture, and she knew that she would not be able to bear it to be touched by him again, without being allowed to be intimate with him. She wanted him so much that it hurt - and that was the reason why she had to leave now, before he noticed her, before she approached him further as she was unconsciously doing just now, step by step.

But it was too late. He had noticed her presence long before, for the smile lighting up his face the moment he turned was directed to her, just like the happy beaming in his dark eyes. She did not move, just smiled back, quickly forgetting that she had wanted to leave.

The change of feelings in Mick's eyes took place within seconds, as his eyes slid slowly over her body. She could feel what he saw: her dress, clinging to her body like a second skin, revealing that she was wearing nothing more than this thin piece of gauze fabric; her nipples frozen by the cold wetness of the rain, pressing through the soaked fabric, and the rapid rise and fall of her chest, caused by his intense gaze. Mick's eyes not only looked at her, they seemed to devour her, and had assumed an expression that one would describe as a predator on the hunt. He was aware of what with each fierce beating of her heart also sank into her mind: This time there was no one to come between them. They were all alone.

Beth's heartbeat stopped for a moment as Mick's hand shot towards her, grabbed her arm and pulled her to his body almost roughly. With a suppressed groan his mouth pressed unrestrained onto her lips, forcing them to open, so that his tongue could dive deeply into her mouth and left her no other choice than to answer this challenge with the same fierceness. She threw her arms around his neck, clung to him, so that her breasts pressed infuriatingly to his chest, rubbed against his bare, warm skin, sending hot shivers through her own body. What a feeling... The heat and the throbbing between her thighs just got even more unbearable…

Mick bent down slightly, still kissing her deeply and greedily, wrapped one arm around her hips and the other one around her butt and lifted her up. Beth pulled herself up on him a bit, wrapping her legs around his waist and held on to him. Her sexual hunger was almost impossible to endure, because the hard bulge in his jeans now pressed into the most sensitive spot of her womanhood and inadvertently stimulated her in a very promising way with every step he took. Even more intense was the feeling, when she suddenly felt the hard wooden wall of the house in her back and Mick pushed himself against her, trapping her between his body and the wall in the most intimate way. He set her lips free, panting heavily and instead attended to her neck in the same unbearable way, while the rain, pelting down on them, could hardly cool her heated face. For a brief moment she got a glimpse into his eyes, saw the unbridled lust, the painful longing that was also torturing her, and was willing to give him instantly everything he needed. Her hands slid restlessly over the wet, smooth skin of his back, her fingers pressed into the hard muscles, expressing her own longing to feel them even more intimately, to feel_ him_, on top of her, inside her, everywhere...

The voice of reason no longer existed. She didn't want to wait any longer, didn't want to hold back any longer, just as Mick. He leaned into her in such a way that he was able to free one of his hands and pushed the rain-soaked fabric of her dress up her thighs, letting his thumb slide over the sensitive skin inside with gentle pressure. A deep, voluptuous moan slipped from Beth's lips as his hand slid between their heated bodies, between her thighs, finding with incredible precision the small, highly sensitive spot of her womanhood, which gave her the most incredible pleasure.

Beth's fingers clenched, dug into the firm flesh of his shoulders as she buried her head in the hollow of his neck, panting for breath. Mick was gentle, but far from timid, and caused that this intimate kind of touch, the rhythmic stroking of his fingers, coupled with the gentle suction of his mouth at her neck, was almost too much for her. She felt this unbearable wave of pressure building in her abdomen, felt it intensifying, heard this ringing in her ears and knew that he _had_ to feel the vigorous throbbing of her lust, her readiness to take him in, under his fingers stimulating her…

She could hear herself moan his name yearningly, almost pleadingly... then his hand was gone. She noticed through the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears, through the slight feeling of dizziness that he was fumbling with his jeans and came to his aid with one hand, painfully craving for the feeling of him inside her. Even the seconds that passed, were still too long...

Her heart jumped when he lifted her a bit and then finally entered her deeply and demandingly. She moaned a similarly voluptuous sound as he did and struggled for breath for a moment, clung more tightly to him as the first unbridled thrust was quickly followed by further equally unrestrained ones. It was so long ago that she had felt him that way... so long that she had almost forgotten how he felt, so hot and hard inside her... it was so wonderfully incredible... so intoxicating ... His hands reached under her thighs, gave her along with the wall to her back enough stability to keep her position and to take her in a way that brought her rapidly into an almost ecstatic state. His movements became quickly more thrusting, more uncontrolled, drove her deeper into this spiral of ecstasy, while his halting, hot breath at her neck and his so sensual, deep groaning incited her own desire further. Beth felt as if she was in a state of intoxication. Her reasoning was completely eliminated. There was only this deep, painful longing inside her, to hold him, to press him to her body and not let go until he had given her the release her whole being was screaming so loudly for. She clung to him like an addict, responded to each fiery thrust of his pelvis with sounds of pleasure, her hands sliding thirstily over his broad back, the wet, warm skin of his tense musculature. His fierce breath, interspersed by uncontrolled sounds of want, was now blowing into her ear. She felt his lips on her neck, her chin, turned her head and caught them with her own, kissed him with trembling lips, while his hips went on moving in this stirring, ever-accelerating pace back and force, into her. More, more...

Beth tried to wrap her legs tighter around him, to press further to him, to meet his thrusts. She wanted to feel him even more intimate, more intense... And as if he could sense what she needed his arms slid further under her thighs and again lifted her a bit, pressing her with his body more firmly against the wall. She uttered an agonized whimper as his hardness drove even deeper into her and brought the tension in her body to a level that was hardly bearable. She fervently pressed her lips onto his neck, sucked and licked at his rain-soaked skin until she had to throw her head back with a sensual groan, because his tantalizing movements inside her brought her to a new level of ecstasy. His face was once again right in front of her, his feverish gaze sought hers, while his open lips pressed to hers, not having the strength anymore to kiss her properly. Both their heavy panting mixed, just as the sounds of pleasure that they both uttered with each voluptuous movement of their bodies. It was the next impetuous thrust that finally drove Beth over the edge, and let her release wash over her in throbbing waves. Her abdomen contracted violently and caused that Mick, after two more deep thrusts, sank against her with a stifled groan, spilling into her.

Beth closed her arms tightly around his neck and buried her face against his shoulder, inhaling deeply his scent and abandoning herself to the slowly fading waves and spasms of her climax. Her blood swooshed loudly in her ears and she felt terribly dizzy because her halted breathing supplied too little oxygen to her lungs. But she felt well, enjoyed the trembling and pulling, which still roamed through her lower body and seemed to find an echo in Mick's body she could feel as if it was a part of her own. They clung to each other, taking in the reverberation of this short but very intense sexual experience, while the continuing rain slowly began to cool down their bodies. An immense feeling of giddiness flowed through Beth and eventually also penetrated her mind. He had not bitten her, had not even changed...

She pressed her face against his stubbly cheek, still feeling his fast, irregular breath on her neck, until he lifted his head ponderously and looked at her, leaning his forehead against hers. His eyes were veiled by pleasure and deep satisfaction, but there was also a little concern written in his eyes, concern that he may have been too rough with her, that he had done something that she would have not wanted this way… so typical Mick... so adorable... She looked at him full of affection, raised a hand and skimmed it gently over his wet face, until a little smile appeared on his lips. Her eyes fastened on his mouth and she simply pressed her lips on his, felt his relieved laughter, before it was heard. She was surprised when he suddenly froze and lifted his head. After a long moment of listening, she heard, against the noise of the rain, what Mick's sensitive ear had identified much earlier. The engine noise of a helicopter. On the other side of the house, Josef was in the final descent.


	50. Concerns

_Next chapter! What a great feedback! Loved it so much! Feel hugged and kissed. And it's really great to see that there are new readers who are willing to leave me a little comment. I so need that! Now it's Josef turn. Hope you'll also enjoy this a bit shorter chapter… and leave me again a comment? You know I'm a poor addict ;o) Best wishes, Jenna_

_Marcy: Yes I will definitely finish my sequel and translate it. But I think I'll need a little rest after finishing the translation of Newborn. At least for two to three weeks. I'm a bit tired and exhausted at the moment, but feedback like that for the last chapter is really helping to go on with the work. And it's great to hear that you you're planning to read also the sequel. _

_P.S. A big thank you to Cleo for the translation of the chapter and to SG6169 for the beta reading! Feel hugged you two!_

* * *

**C****oncerns **

_"In fear we reach for each hand even for the one of our enemy's."_

_Anke Maggauer-Kirsche_

* * *

Normally I liked storms. They could be calming at times. They wash the world of its filth and garbage, and provide for a new foundation, on which old things are renewed and new life can grow again. But this storm had the feel of something threatening about it, as if it were a harbinger for a large, rapidly approaching disaster. And it wasn't just because the helicopter had had significant problems with its landing approach - I began to feel a bit queasy after a violent jolt had gone through the machine for the third time before coming in contact with the ground. No, the storm stirred my uneasy feelings that this big vampire meeting being held in two days would not go well at all. At least not if the rest of us vampires couldn't reach an agreement, before the Europeans arrived, regarding the experiments of the Legion and especially Mick's existence as a half-human, half-vampire. It was going to be difficult enough to face _Him_ as a united group – but if we continued to conspire against one another, we were going to be fighting a losing battle.

When the helicopter finally touched down, I forcibly persuaded myself to not deal with this troubling thought further. I had to keep a clear head, to prepare myself for the challenges awaiting us. And if _I_ started to panic, how were the others going to keep their heads then?

As the rain pelted the windows I took a deep breath, opened the door and with my head down climbed out of the machine. Daniel passed me the heavy bags which I had brought along from LA and then climbed out himself to take some of the luggage over to the house. By the time we finally arrived we were soaked to the skin. I might have even been pleased about it - the refreshment for a stressed out Vampire like me felt particularly good - had my expensive suit not been destroyed by the violent weather. Mud stuck to my trouser legs and the rest of the suit had totally lost its shape. My mood had hit rock bottom when I walked into the living room of the shabby farmhouse and found it completely deserted. I let the heavy bags sink to the floor and looked around, shaking my head. Hard to believe that this house was inhabited by seven people and for the moment nothing moved. It was only late afternoon. At least the human inhabitants of this house should still be on their feet.

I became aware that Daniel approached me and turned to face him. He too was confused over the gaping void in this room. His wrinkled brow and his gaping mouth attested to that.

"Just put the bags here," I said to him. "You're welcome to go over to Alejandro's and stay there overnight. You won't be able to fly back in this weather under any circumstances."

Daniel nodded willingly, gave me a friendly smile and then quickly left the house. I knew that he didn't feel comfortable around so many vampires. In this respect, he wasn't anything like his mother at all...

I took a deep breath and arranged my thoughts. As far as I knew it had been quite hot in this area today - even in LA I had suffered quite a bit - which would have explained the absence of my vampire friends. I would probably find them in the basement. What, however, caused my uneasiness, was the low probability that Mick and Beth were down there too. Which more than likely meant that they had been left alone - quite contrary to my instructions. Well, Peterson was here too, but the old man could hardly be regarded as a major obstacle for Mick and was easy to trick. There were two things that I now urgently had to check out: First, if Mick and Beth were indeed alone, and second, whether Beth, if this was the case, had survived unscathed. I closed my eyes for a moment and sent a quick prayer to heaven. Then I started moving, let my nose lead me, which could immediately pick up the traces of human tracks from the various smells in the house. I could smell where my friends had walked to and finally stopped in front of a door that was not completely closed. There were no unusual noises heard from inside - only the steady breathing of a human. From the smell, it could only be one person...

I pushed with my fingertips against the door and the rapidly widening gap revealed what I'd already suspected: Peterson rested happily in his bed and slept soundly. I shook my head in disbelief. Why were all people in this house just so irresponsible?

I turned angrily away from the peaceful sight and sucked air into my sensitive nose again. Yes. They had walked down the hall. Both! I gritted my teeth firmly and prayed again that nothing bad had happened. But it was just so quiet in the house, almost eerily quiet... I hesitated. No, there _was_ a noise at the end of the corridor. The constant splashing of water. It clearly came from the bathroom. Someone had turned on the shower. I hurried on towards the noise. They were in the shower! Together! Water allowed blood to flow much faster from the veins - this was not good. Not good at all!

When I reached the door, the sound of the shower had stopped but that didn't concern me much. I just busted through the door and jerked back in alarm when Beth let out a shriek and held a towel in front of her naked body like lightning. My eyes perceived fairly quickly that she was alone - only the will to avert my eyes had escaped me for the moment. It was just in my nature to take in the sight of an almost totally naked woman in every detail and therefore I slowly let my gaze run up and down her barely covered body. Beth was in fact a beautiful woman, with her sensuous curves and her silky, moist skin. And the smell that emanated from her... so full of estrogen and adrenaline, simply beguiling...

"_Josef!"_ she called indignantly and ripped me suddenly from my light trance. "_Get out!"_ Her finger almost speared me when she pointed with a crimson red face to the door, pressing the towel tight to her torso.

I raised my hands in apology and moved quickly backwards but I just couldn't resist a chuckle when the door in front of me slammed with a click of the lock. Whatever Beth had been doing there in the shower - it had given her and her body quite a pleasure. I sucked air deeply into my lungs and felt my body slowly relax. Fortunately my fears had not come true. Mick had not attacked Beth. She was unharmed and sexually, at least for the moment, probably quite satisfied. Now I was only faced with the task of finding Mick... and if possible, putting the image of this half-naked young woman, out of my mind.

Noises from the living room told me that someone had just entered and a brooding frown displayed on my face. Had Daniel changed his mind and wanted to stay here? Hard to believe...

I turned on my heels and hurried back to the living room. It surprised me to find Mick there, dripping wet and curiously inspecting the bags which were still in the middle of the room. I slowed my pace slightly and went with raised eyebrows toward him, eyeing him up closely. Something was different about him...

"Were you just outside?" I asked incredulously when he raised his head and greeted me with a huge smile.

"With that great weather?" he replied, his eyes sparkling with vitality. "Of course!"

I shook my head. Not only about his comment, but also about his behavior. He was so relaxed, so happy... That couldn't be just because of the storm. Mick had always loved the forces of nature more than I had, but that didn't explain the glow of his cheeks, the sparkle in his eyes... and this very faint fragrance. Of course, the heavy rain had washed away most of it, but nothing escaped my experienced nose. Testosterone, adrenalin, endorphin... My mind began to work.

"What did you bring back?" Mick asked, looking as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. But one couldn't distract me that easily. What were the odds that two humans, who yearned for each other, would go their separate ways to take care of their intimate needs individually if they had the chance to enjoy themselves undisturbed? Oh Beth, you little actress!

"Some important equipment and parts for Seth," I replied and came close enough to him to pick up this special scent even more intense. The rain was not as thorough as the shower and soap that had been available to Beth. Now I was even able to smell _her_ on him and a little smile accidentally slipped across my lips. There he was again the Josef Kostan of former times, who granted his best friend every possible happiness and was pleased he finally lost his control to a part of life which had come much to briefly to him for such a long-time.

Subconsciously, I knew I should have a serious talk with him about this matter, had to make it clear to him what a risk he had taken with this act but I just couldn't do it. Not after the brutal reminder of the suffering he had gone through for the past year. He _deserved_ to feel good again, to spend happy passionate hours with the woman he loved more than life itself. And besides, nothing had happened to her. Everything had gone well.

"And? How was your day?" I added with a friendly smile and snickered when the light red of his cheeks grew a little bit darker.

"Good," he replied with a curt nod, but evaded my intense gaze.

"Pretty _hot_, huh?" I asked with this slightly sleazy overtone that Mick knew only too well.

His gaze wandered back to me and his eyebrows contracted slightly as he seemed to be wondering if I knew what had happened between him and Beth in my absence. "Yeah...," he replied somewhat hesitantly. "The approaching storm caused a rather oppressive atmosphere here."

"Great, that everything has _unloaded_ now," I smirked. "It must have been incredibly _hard_." My wide grin indeed made Mick turn from me and with a deep breath, slowly walk towards the hall.

"I... need dry clothes," he told me in a half turn. "Maybe you should change, too..."

I nodded with a grin and he disappeared in a hurry from the room. I enjoyed the whole thing way too much - it had been a longtime since I had been able to embarrass my friend. Maybe I would be able to enjoy it a little longer, if I got the chance. Because of course there had to be punishment!

My spirits soared at this thought. Even the sight of my wet clothes couldn't change it. But Mick was right. It was better to change before I mustered all the others to the next meeting. A 'Josef Kostan' could hardly lead an important meeting in such a state!

* * *

"And what's the hurry now?" Logan asked suspiciously, when all the important people to me had gathered in the living room and settled somewhere.

It was indeed a simple question but I found it quite difficult to answer. Not because I couldn't, but because the content of the answer was of such an unpleasant nature. I took a long, deep breath and sat up a bit in the armchair in which I had just sat down.

"Because we are going to receive visitors tomorrow evening," I got straight to the point. The surprise and the horror that befell my friends was almost physically tangible. "The _Council_ and a part of LA's vampire community will arrive here," I quickly stated, before the first questions could arise. "They want to see Mick and talk with the professor."

"But... but why now?" it burst from Beth excitedly who had been the first to appear in the living room and therefore had found a place in the armchair across from me. "Why without this other older vampire?"

It was really cute how she and Mick tried to avoid sitting next to each other so nobody would guess what they had been up to behind all our backs not even forty-five minutes ago. 'Had been up' was in this case a most suitable word. For at least Mick had definitely 'been up' for a certain period of time…

"Because they want to get a clear picture of the situation before Lance and his friends can behave like rulers of the world and go over our heads to make all the decisions," I said quickly, commanding myself to concentrate on the really important things. I didn't look at Beth. My eyes rested on my best friend who was sitting cross-legged next to me on the floor and accepted, without protest, the new information far too calm and collected for my taste. His behavior surprised me, like it had before, when he had proposed accompanying me to LA. The vampires from the LA community didn't seem to frighten him. Of course my words had made him think but Beth was giving a far more troubled impression than he did.

"But they shouldn't be here for another week," she tried to remind me and her mouth fell open when I shook my head.

"They will arrive the day after tomorrow," I corrected the terrified young woman, and now, for the first time since I sat here, worry was also shown on Mick's face.

"The day after _tomorrow_?" he repeated sharply and I saw how his chest widened with a deep breath. "Why so early? That's not the agreement!"

"We don't know why," I replied. "We assume they are trying prevent many of my friends and acquaintances, that are coming, from aligning themselves with me if a conflict arises."

A deep, shaken sigh was heard from the couch. "This... this is indeed terrible news," the professor stammered, as he took off his glasses with trembling fingers, rubbing his thumb and index finger nervously over the bridge of his nose. "This... this cannot go well at all..."

Mick frowned a bit. "Nice that you have so much confidence in me, Frank," he addressed the professor with an angry smile, who could only give him a helpless shrug. He looked pale and sickly. This impression, however, he had also given before my 'good news'. I was almost worried about him. Fortunately, I had no real time for this.

"The whole thing is not just about you, Mick," I said, coming to the old man's aid. "It wasn't that clear to me at first, but what makes this upcoming meeting so dangerous are the old conflicts that have been around for centuries between the different vampire communities and will very likely ignite again at this point. It's about old power struggles and intrigue that make it extremely difficult for us to unite against the Legion now_.._."

"You mean the old European - American - problem?" August probed and I had to force myself to nod.

"Among other things," I added.

"What do you mean exactly?" Beth asked in a husky voice. "Are you saying the vampires who will be meeting here, might attack one another - even though it has nothing to do with us?"

Again, I nodded and could see the increasing fear and concern in their eyes. "It's quite possible the business with Mick may work out quite well, but it will still come to a conflict or even a fight. And to make matters worse not all vampires can be trusted equally. It's now clear there are some vampires who don't work for the good of the Community, or at least not in the sense of _all_ Communities..."

"In what way?" Mick asked now alert.

"Elizabeth gave me some confidential information and asked that I don't pass it to anyone," I said now much quieter. "But I think you have a right to know all the facts, about what's going on."

I took a deep breath and just sorted my thoughts to find the right starting point. It probably wouldn't hurt to take it one step further, for not everyone in the room was nearly as old as I am and they didn't know the history of our species that well.

"The fight between the Legion and vampires has been going on since the time of the Crusades," I began my story. "At that time, and a longtime after that, the Legion's goal was to find and kill every vampire on the planet. They gathered tremendous knowledge about our species and started with all available means to fight us successfully. Most of the vampires who were affected by the first attacks and hunts, fled or hid somewhere. The attacks came too suddenly to react to them and the vampires weren't able to fight back at first. A union between the vampire communities was nonexistent back then. Everyone fought alone for their own survival. It was a bad time... until _He_ came. _He_ was known then under the name _Nefario, the Godless_. He accomplished the unique feat of joining a large group of the vampires and built a strong army. They fought as a group and inflicted significant losses on the Legion. But they were not able to destroy them completely. There were, over the centuries, repeatedly vicious battles with high losses on both sides, until one day a wise man of the Legion chose to sit down with _Nefario_ or _He_ as he was called then, and negotiated a peace contract."

"Wait! There... there had been a peace contract?" Logan repeated incredulously and slid forward a little on the couch. "When had _this_ been concluded?"?"

"At some point after the French Revolution," I was able to answer his question. "And before you ask: Yes, the _Legion_ has for a longtime held to the agreements reached then."

"But they have continued the killing again and again," Logan objected angrily. "I've researched this!"

"That doesn't mean it was against the agreements," I replied and with this statement caused, for a moment, a shocked silence among the attendants.

"The killings were... approved by _Him_?" Logan's voice was barely more than a breath. After all, he brought out something in contrast to the others.

I thought for a heartbeat about his question and then gave him a restrained nod. "In some ways. As far as I understand it, the agreements served to protect a large part of the vampire society from further attacks - except for those who behaved contrary to the commonly established laws. Those were allowed to be hunted and killed by the Legion."

"What were those laws?" Mick now asked, and had formed deep thoughtful wrinkles on his forehead.

"I don't know them in detail, but I know there was the absolute prohibition against killing humans for bloodlust. Furthermore, it was forbidden for vampires to take political seats or take over other powerful positions in society. And... what is even more important, the Legion reserved the right to keep an eye on the vampire population and to reduce it as they see fit."

"And where are the rights of the vampires?" Logan growled angrily and his friend Seth nodded in agreement.

"Absolute impunity for _Him_ and his closest circle," I gave back quietly, "no matter what they do. And the right to take certain vampires that do not belong to this circle into their protection at any time."

"That basically means, _He_ let down the vampire community he had used for his battles," Mick concluded from my words. "_He_ just made sure that he and his friends were okay and they could lead a quiet, secluded life, without having the risk of being prosecuted again. _He_ didn't care what happened to the rest of us."

"I don't know if that's true yet," I said cautiously. "Perhaps the modest demands and concessions _He_ made with the Legion was the smartest thing he could do then and for that situation. After so many centuries of war, he was able to end it and made sure that most vampires could live for a very longtime in peace and quiet. And for that, they were grateful – up to this day."

"And what is it about the conflicts between us and the Europeans now?" Logan probed impatiently.

"All these agreements were at that time negotiated only for Europe," I replied. "Here in America the Legionwas not present for a longtime - one of the many reasons I came here - and when they came, they met a society that was prepared for them. The vampires here went on their own to them and proposed a similar agreement as in Europe. Elizabeth was one of the negotiators and was able to establish the contract with a few other ancient vampires. She made sure that we set up a police force that adjusted and punished the crimes of vampires immediately."

"The Cleaners_,_ " Mick noted with a nod of understanding.

"Exactly. The people of the Legion liked this idea very much and stayed fairly calm for many years. They watched us of course and there were a few punishment-actions and purges in between, which wasn't paid much attention to from our side. At some point, however, their leadership must have changed because suddenly an entirely different tone was taken against us and they acted with much more pressure and aggression against vampires. The first lists were created by which vampires who the _Legion_ didn't liked were systematically killed, no matter if they had committed a crime or not. The Legion came at us hard at times, and in our distress we turned to the Europeans..."

"Who didn't care," Mick concluded quite right.

"They used different words, but basically you're right," I had to admit. "They didn't feel responsible for us and this caused a huge break between the community here and the Europeans. _He_ only stepped in when they killed two of the elders here - with success, because for the Legion _He_ is probably the only vampire they have great respect for, the only one they fear in someway. His fame is known far beyond the borders of the vampire world."

"It seems, at the moment that not even _His_ legendary reputation can frighten the Legion enough to not seek open war with us," Mick said. "The question is: What changed?"

"According to Elizabeth: the state of the _Legion._. There is a radical and a defensive wing now. The radical side has adopted the old, outdated objectives of the European _Legion _prior to the contract: the complete destruction of all vampires, no exceptions. The defensive side wants to keep the agreements of the contract with _Him_ but are the ones who started, underhandedly, all these illegal experiments on vampires. The only question is which side of the _Legion_ will ultimately have the upper hand."

Mick confused me with a shake of his head. "No, the question _is_, who do _we_ want to have the power?" Mick added and I had to agree with him with a nod after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Elizabeth's thoughts exactly."

"What?" Beth asked, blinking confused. "You want to join with a part of the Legion?" She looked from one to the other doubtingly.

"The_ Council _assumes that this is_ His_ plan," I told her more calmly than I was. "Of course, _both_ sides are currently a danger to us. They hunt us and stop at nothing. We would be foolish to approach them in a peaceful way now. We need a way to put pressure on them somehow to force them in someway to sit down at the negotiating table again."

"Oh, my God!" Beth exclaimed, and she showed once again how quickly her mind could work. "That's the reason _He_ comes here! _He_ has realized Mick's importance to the Legion and wants to get an idea of how _he_ can use him as a pressure or bait!"

"That's what we suspect at least," I had to admit again. "_He_ will do everything possible to get a grip on the Legion because even in Europe actions against vampires have started. The situation becomes more and more precarious and the time is running out. If Mick is what he needs, _He_ will try to take him with him – I'm sure of that. But if he's just an unpredictable risk for _Him_...," I said nothing more, because every attendant here could well imagine what would happen next.

"But... but we _can't_ let them take him," it slipped upset from Beth's lips. Her eyes roamed to our thoughtful friend again and again, with so much fear that I felt a strong urge to take her into my arms to comfort her. The idea of losing Mick again, no matter how, was just as unbearable to me as it was for her.

"Of course not," I said firmly. "That's precisely why it's so important the _Council_ and the vampires of LA get here _before_ the Europeans and stand united behind us so we can force them to cooperate with us. Otherwise, we must try to escape. But this is also something we should prepare ourselves for."

"How reliable is this information of Elizabeth's?" August asked hesitantly, who had held himself back in the last few minutes. "Can you believe this whole story? I mean, how does she know all this, if it's supposed to be a secret? Where did she get her information from about _Him_?"?"

"She's one of the few vampires who know _Him_ personally," I explained.

"Well enough to evaluate his thinking and actions?" August was not really convinced of my words.

I gave him a soft smile. "_He_ is her Sire. And she spent a few centuries at his side as his lover."

My friends now fell, for a second time within a short while, into silent amazement.

"That being said, she is a wise and prudent woman," I added. "And she's on our side. We should in no way annoy her with inappropriate mistrust."

"You... you say, they're coming tomorrow evening?" Mick inquired with this familiar brooding line between his eyebrows.

I nodded.

"And they want to talk with Frank and I?"

Again, I responded with a nod.

"How many other vampires will be here?"

"I've asked Elizabeth to bring no more than ten people," I said. "And I think she'll stick to that."

"Will they demand that I transform into a vampire?" Mick continued his bombardment of questions.

"Probably," I could only say.

"And if I can't do this?" This question surprised me a little.

"What do you mean? You're in no small part a vampire. Why wouldn't you be able to change?"

Instead of Mick, Frank bent now slightly towards me, still looking pale and sickly. I would not have been surprised if he had vomited in the next moment onto the dirty carpet. But he didn't, to my relief. Instead, he spoke to me in a low, husky voice. "Mick's human side is currently very strong because of the compound I gave him. It's quite possible the vampire in him is missing the power to appear on command. And _if_ he appears… In our practice so far, he has not been able to transform instantly into a calm vampire state..."

The professor's words scared me slightly, but I tried to not show this outwardly. "We still have all-day tomorrow to try. And if that doesn't work, we must tease the vampire out of Mick by using the meds again."

I saw from the corner of my eye how Beth shook her head in protest and threw immediately a sharp glance in her direction. "No discussions, Beth," I growled at her. "The whole thing is already tricky enough - we cannot afford a disagreement between us!"

"But..."

"No buts! We have many other things to take care of. Above all, we need to develop a plan incase something goes wrong and we have to run. This has absolute priority over everything else." My eyes went to Seth, cutting out Beth and her objections. "We need as quick as possible, cameras and motion detectors all over this place and if possible also here in this room."

The young vampire nodded eagerly. "We've already begun that."

"Good." I allowed myself a deep breath. "In the bags, as well as technical stuff, are some effective weapons against vampires, which we should hide as well as possible. Furthermore, I will sit down with Alejandro tomorrow and develop an escape plan. He will get us ID cards and transportation and a safe place we can go to if we are able to escape. And as for _you_ Beth..." I paused a moment to gather my strength for the upcoming fight with her. "I don't know if Mick has discussed this with you, but I agree with him that you should not be here when the vampires come - not when _He_ comes and not tomorrow."

I saw the defiance and anger in her eyes, saw how she took a deep breath to put her protest into words, but the penetrating gaze Mick cast at her, stopped her.

"I know the situation has changed a bit because there are now two meetings," he began with understanding, "but that does not change the fact there will be a lot of vampires here at one time and that will be a huge danger to you, Beth. The vampire's confidence in humans right now is not good. It is entirely conceivable that they may think that you're a spy for the Legion and we cannot afford to cause any more unrest and conflicts."

"Once we have installed the cameras, you can follow the meetings from Alejandro's office," I added quickly to further expedite the visible collapse of her resistance. "And initiate our escape together with him in case something goes wrong. We have to rely on a few outside people."

I could see Mick had trouble with my words because he had wanted to keep Beth out of any military action, but he was smart enough not to express his opposition to her. Instead, his gaze remained on her face in which you could clearly see the struggle within her.

"Okay," she finally gasped and her chest rose and fell under a heavy breath. Her eyes wandered from Mick to me and presented a rather demanding character. "But I get a few of the weapons, so I have something I can rush to you with, if you need help."

Now Mick tried even harder not to protest, but he was brave, and instead pressed his lips together tightly.

"Of course," I replied with a slight smile and wasn't bothered by the warning look that Mick gave me. "If you promise to follow Alejandro and do everything he has previously told you to do..."

I could see how this worked in Beth's pretty head, then she nodded. "I promise."

"Really?" I just had to probe. "Because sometimes, there are certain temptations that make it difficult to stick to agreements..."

Her eyebrows were moving towards each other in slight confusion while Mick briefly closed his eyes and shook his head incredulously. But I was sure to have seen a small smile flashing over his lips.

Beth also seemed now to have realized, what I was alluding to with my words. Her cheeks became, suddenly, a very healthy color.

"You can only grow with challenges," she replied still cool and I gave her a wide grin.

"That's what I call a word," I replied and then looked around. "Are there any other questions...?"

Logan raised his finger and inhaled.

"... that urgently need to be resolved now, because all our lives depend on them?" I added quickly. Logan's smile crumbled and he withdrew his finger again looking slightly disappointed. He probably wanted to give the new action a name or something similarly 'important'...

"Well," I said, because nothing else came from the others. "Nature seems indeed to have calmed down..." The short glance at Mick and Beth simply _had_ to be. "Then we should use the break in the rain and all get down to work while we're undisturbed. It would be great if we could do the biggest part of the work tonight so tomorrow we're not under a time pressure." I got up and the others did the same, without a murmur. They all knew how serious the situation was and that I was not putting undue pressure on them for nothing.

"Oh, Logan," I addressed my, a bit scattered young comrade. "I think it would be a good idea if you unlocked the door to the freezer before Hendrik wakes up and realizes that I locked it."

Logan looked at me with wide eyes. "You locked..."

"Exactly," I answered his unspoken question. "And now... shoo, shoo!" I made an impatient waving gesture and Logan hurried off without further questions. I was secretly hoping that Hendrik would sleep as long as possible, so he wouldn't notice our preparations too early. At least for tonight, I still had to deal with him. Tomorrow evening, however, it was going to be my pleasure to impale him before he could inform his master of the unannounced meeting. That was a treat I was looking forward to and my spirits lifted for a second time this incredibly busy afternoon.


	51. Longing

_*__Sorry, I'm a little bit late today but here's now the next chapter. And be warned it's a M-rated chapter. I just thought Mick and Beth need a little more time together ;o) . Thanks for your great reviews. I really need that at the moment for I have the feeling I'm losing readers on the German site for the sequel (I know it's because I update too slowly there) and this is quite demotivating. But your reviews really help me to go on, so feel hugged and kissed. You're my muse! And a big thank you to SG6169 again for her dear help! See you all at Sunday again. Best wishes, Jenna*_

* * *

**Longing**

* * *

_To hear you breathe._

_To feel you. _

_To __love you. _

_Wanting to drown in your closeness._

_(Author unknown)_

* * *

Beth had heard that people who were in difficult situations, who were exposed to long periods of stress could sometimes act strange. They suddenly did things that were reckless, defiant, and developed needs that were, for that moment in life, completely out of character... such as an excessive desire for sexual satisfaction.

It had been relieving to abandon herself to Mick and with that to give in to her own lust, very relieving. Beth had never done anything like that before, outside, in the midst of a storm, quick and fierce. Even though they had had to part so soon, it had been exhilarating, she had felt so good afterwards, so relaxed. It had been such a long time since she had felt that way and she had not bargained on the craving returning so soon for this reason.

You would think the bad news Josef had brought along would have cooled her down even more, and it had at first. But amazingly those feelings had flared up again during their joint preparations for the vampire meeting. A few furtive glances and fleeting touches during the work had been enough to rekindle this crackling between them. Even Josef's pointed and unequivocal remarks had not been enough to dispel her reawakened longing. It had grown from hour to hour – no matter how irritated she was with herself.

Here it was four o'clock at night - or rather in the morning, and Beth could not sleep - again! She was upset, agitated and tense. If she was not thinking about Mick, her fears would push back up into her mind, which kept her awake as much as her sexual desires. Beth was quivering inside. Her longing for Mick was almost back to the same painful level as before their intense rendezvous. No, that was not quite right... it was worse because she was now even more aware of how it felt to sleep with him. She needed him, needed him so much. She had been to the door twice to try to sneak into his room, but had turned round, because she had heard voices coming from the living room. One thing she didn't want, was to arouse attention and have them realize what she was up to. She felt like a cat in heat, waiting for the opportunity to escape her prison. Not a flattering idea...

Beth gave a deep sigh and resignedly plopped down onto her bed. A loud crack told her she had accidentally broken another slat in the bedframe – she hadn't even sat down that hard. If this kept up, with this rickety bed, she would soon find her ass in a pit and she wouldn't get any sleep at all.

The next sigh was even more frustrated than the previous, and she buried her face in her hands. For the umpteenth time that night, she wondered if Mick felt the same way she did. If he was also tense and listening at his door to hear whether the other vampires had finally gone to bed. She wished for this so much...

She wasn't afraid anymore. This was now about her pride, and that was already crumbling as well. The memories of their last passionate union were persistent, repeatedly flashing through her overwrought mind, fuelling her desire, and the reason for this excited tingling in her body.

Life was so unfair. In a normal world, in an average life, it would only be natural at this point in their relationship for them to be able to indulge their appetites, to come together and love each other as often as they could. But of course it was not to be. Although Mick had warned her relations with vampires were complicated and dangerous, he could certainly not have expected such difficulties. Their relationship had barely begun, when Mick had been taken away from her. She had found him again but someone had changed him in such a way that for awhile being close to him meant putting her in mortal danger. Now they had indeed finally slept with each other, but they were still not allowed to be together, because no one knew for sure how long Mick would remain in his human and harmless state. It was enough to drive you crazy! And she simply had no more patience. Who knew what tomorrow would bring? Perhaps that would even be the last night they would spend together, for God's sake!

Beth jumped up and with a wildly beating heart, walked to the door again. She would now get what she needed. She pressed her ear against the cool wood and listened, as she had done before. There were no longer any sounds coming from the living room. Could it be the other vampires had finally gone to bed? They had worked hard out there in the evening sun and vampires were such sensitive creatures...

Beth's hand went again to the doorknob, clasped it carefully, but she could not bring herself to turn it. She closed her eyes and shook her head. This was terribly selfish. Mick was certainly struggling with even worse fears regarding the coming days and here she was thinking only of her own physical pleasure. How pathetic! There were still so many important things for her to consider. She had to develop her own emergency plan in case something should go wrong. But how could she, when she was constantly thinking of how wonderful his kisses tasted, how his skin felt beneath her hands, and how exciting it was to feel him inside her...

'Beth! Get a grip!' The inner voice was strict enough. Her fingers slid from the doorknob and she paced towards the window with sagging shoulders, as she had done several times that night. This time, however, she opened the window to let in the nights fresh air. She shivered slightly, because she wore only a thin nightgown, and folded her arms over her chest to keep herself warm. But the cool breeze felt so good. It stroked her heated skin so softly... like gentle fingers...

'Beth, stop that, now!' she scolded herself once again and took a deep breath. It was getting unbearable! She needed to get her overactive libido under control somehow. She would not immediately fall round Mick's neck when they were alone once again - whenever that would be. She would talk to him, talk about _his_ worries, listen to him, and be there for him...

A slight jerk went through her body as she heard the creaking floorboards in front of her door and she spun around immediately. Her heart was racing, as she saw the doorknob turn and her door open quietly. Her breath quickened as now a tall, dark figure entered her room and closed the door silently behind him. The moonlight lit the room enough for her to recognize him instantly... she could see the glow in his eyes, his tense posture, his breathing becoming rapid as his eyes wandered with undisguised lust over her barely concealed body...

Beth only needed a split second to process that he had indeed come to her - and for the same reason she had stood at the door twice before - she threw herself towards him. He only needed to take two big steps to enfold her in his arms, instantly pressed his warm lips hungrily to hers and lifted her with ease from the floor. Beth flung her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips, while her tongue frantically sought contact with his. She felt Mick carry her towards the bed and with great difficulty broke away from his lips.

"No...," she mumbled against his chin and tried to concentrate on her speech, which was really hard. "It's broken ..."

Mick's lips were back, pressed to hers again, but she felt a restrained nod and noticed that he bent slightly to one side, took a hand from her back and grabbed something. A muffled noise behind her told her the mattress had landed on the floor. He lowered them to it, never breaking the deep and passionate kiss. She felt the soft padding at her back, his weight, pushing her into the mattress, and arched her back, pressed her body against his to feel his body with every fiber of her being. He sucked her lower lip between his, then let his mouth slip over her chin, down her neck, leaving a wet trail on her tingling skin. Her hands wandered restlessly over his back, quickly found the hem of his shirt and pulled it up impatiently. She wanted to feel his bare skin - instantly. Mick seemed to be stricken by the same need. He lifted his upper body away from Beth just enough to wrangle the shirt completely off. A delightful sigh slipped from her lips, when her hands met his bare skin, slid greedily over the contours of his muscular back, while her lips sought contact with his mouth again. His tongue was so soft and velvety, yet so urgent… the heat and moisture between her thighs grew steadily. She lifted her pelvis and grinded against him, like she had their first night together - only the feeling was now even more intense because this time he was wearing only thin pajama pants and she delicate panties. She could feel his hardness almost as if they were naked, and he was anything but restrained. He groaned deeply into her mouth and moved his hips against her, rubbing the most sensitive spot of her body. She dug her fingers into his back and uttered a joyful moan, which even the intimate kiss they exchanged could not dampen. Her legs slid from his hips. She braced her feet against the mattress and lifted her hips to meet his next thrust in such a tantalizing way that Mick had to abandon her lips and draw a sharp, much needed breath into his lungs.

"Beth... don't...," he gasped close to her ear. She had heard these words before, but she cared for them less now as she did back then. She lifted her pelvis again, but to her annoyance Mick slid down on her a bit preventing this intense contact with his throbbing erection. He continued trailing hot wet kisses down her neck, sucking his way toward her breasts as he shifted his weight to one side and with a hand shoved up her nightgown, exposing one of her breasts. He did not take the time to free her completely from her gown. His mouth closed in the next second on her erect nipple and sucked it with such intensity that a surprised, deeply excited panting escaped her. Mick groaned in reply. Beth closed her eyes and bit her lip against the intensity of the sensation. She lay totally still, trying to focus on what his lips and tongue were doing to this sensitive part of her body. But the feelings were so intense, this part of her body so closely connected with the nerves of her throbbing womanhood that the need to feel him inside her went beyond her limits.

"Mick...," she whispered hoarsely to him as he pushed her nightgown further up and devoted himself to the other breast with the same passion. Her hand glided over the tense muscles of his upper arm. "Mick...please..."

He seemed not to hear. Maybe he did not want to. So she grabbed the fabric of her nightgown and pulled it over her head, in doing so bent her upper body forward, invitingly, towards him. Mick's hand immediately closed around her previously released breast, letting his thumb slide over the hardened, still wet peak, rubbing it gently. The play of his tongue, and the impetuous sucking on her other nipple was so unbearable that Beth uttered involuntary that whimper only Mick was able to cause in her. She wanted to feel him inside her - _now_!

Her hands slid along his sides to the elastic band of his silk pajama pants. But again Mick evaded her actions, as he slid down a bit. This time holding her hands, pressing them into the mattress next to her body, as his mouth slid over her ribs and down to her belly...

Beth's chest rose and fell in deep, irregular breaths, while goose bumps began to spread from her belly to her entire body. His eyes sought hers, trying to read what she felt and flashed when his lips were able to elicit another groan from her. Mick's tongue had reached her navel, circled it and then slid down further. He let go of her hands, and in a semi-sitting position, let his fingers slide over her hips to her panties and pulled the last piece of clothing from her heated body. His ardent gaze, which now clearly moved between her legs, told her what he wanted to do next, but Beth had no more patience. She sat up, before he could bend down, wrapped her arms around his neck and slipped onto his lap shifting closer until they were perfectly aligned. She was now seated over his erection, trembling with need, as she began to rub herself against him.

Mick's arms wrapped tightly around her body, his lips pressed hers into a deep, fiery kiss. She felt his soft chest-hair on her nipples, the warm, soft skin stretched over his muscles, and pressed even closer to him, to feel even more intensely this sensual contact. She let her hands slide down his sides, traced the lines of his hard abs, teasing him with soft caresses before hooking her fingers in the waistband of his pants. He sucked in a deep breath as her fingers drifted lower. Mick moved again, brought them both into a supine position, but this time allowed her to slide his pants down. Not only that - he helped her to remove his last remaining garment. Beth arched her back voluptuously against his tight body, begging him to take her quickly, and responded with an excited gasp when he finally entered her, filling her so completely that it took her breath away. She raised her hips with a wildly beating heart, allowing him to go even deeper and drew from him an uncontrollable groan that sent shivers down her back. She closed her eyes as he began to move inside her in a slow, tantalizing rhythm. This feeling... there was nothing comparable, nothing nearly as exciting, intense...

Her fingers slid down his back, trembling, while his chest rubbed teasingly over her nipples with each thrust, stimulating her further and increasing the pressure in her abdomen to a maximum. If he continued like this, she would come before they had even started. Perhaps this was the reason he had prevented certain touches and physical contacts before... maybe he was just as excited as she was and had only wanted to avoid it being over too soon. But it was not so easy now. His thrusts became faster and more uncontrolled. His lips broke away from her neck and his head lifted a bit to brace himself on his arms a little more. Again and again he closed his eyes, as if he had to force himself to not lose control too soon, while his rapid, irregular breath blew over her irritated skin. Beth's hands slid to his hips, dug into his flesh asking him to increase his movements, to thrust harder and deeper into her. She did not need gentle, slow sex. She needed him in the heated way he had taken her only a few hours ago. Almost on their own her hips lifted again, meeting his thrusts, her soft body pressing into his, while her lips grazed the sensitive skin beneath his ear, wanting to taste him. Beth wrapped her legs around his waist to take him deeper. She could hear from the strained, sensual sounds Mick uttered, that he was quickly approaching his peak, like her, and clung even tighter to him. She wanted to be close to him when it happened, as close as possible...

She was surprised when he stopped suddenly, and grabbed her leg, pulling it down with gentle force. Only when he slid his arms beneath her and shifted his weight, did she understand what he wanted to do, but it was already too late. With a quick and neat movement, he rolled onto his back and she was now on top.

Beth froze. It was not that she had never tried it this way before, but at the time, it had been embarrassing for her. She had never felt the need to do it that way again. Even though she was not ashamed of her body, she just wasn't comfortable being on display like this. Even the self-confidence of Beth Turner had its limits.

Mick's face was directly in front of her and she noticed despite her own excitement that he had closed his eyes and was struggling with his control. This position and the momentary stillness of their bodies seemed to help. His heart beating against her chest became quieter, like her own, although she could still feel him inside her, could feel that at least at this point, his state of arousal had not subsided.

After a few seconds Mick opened his eyes again, searching her gaze and raised a hand to her face, in a tender gesture, to brush a strand of hair from her sweaty brow. On his lips appeared a gentle smile, and then they were on her mouth again. Beth could not help but return the kiss and open her lips when his tongue tantalizingly slipped between them. She felt his hands on her back, felt them skimming over her shoulder blades with gentle pressure, down to her hips, over her buttocks and then over her thighs. His touch was so gentle and so tender, that she slowly started to relax, responding to his kisses with increasing intensity. She felt his fingers in the hollows of her knees and drew a breath in surprise, as he moved her legs forward so she was now kneeling over him and his manhood was sinking deeper into her again. He gave her a moment to adjust to this new position, then lifted his pelvis and thrust into her, educing a low, lustful moan from her. The next even deeper thrust let her gasp for breath. With each gentle thrust her desire began to build again as this position proved to be more and more stimulating for her. Mick's hands were on her back, ran slowly over her shoulders and down the front to her cleavage. Beth reacted out of an inner instinct and broke away from his lips, propped herself up with her hands next to his head and lifted her upper body slightly. She closed her eyes as his fingers roamed over the soft skin of her breasts, caressing and teasing her hard erect nipples, while the intoxicating rhythm of his hips made her meeting him, moving her pelvis in an opposite rhythm back and forth to take him in as deeply as possible. The dragging and throbbing spread slowly from her abdomen into her whole body. She searched his gaze again, sank into the warm blue of his eyes and settled into the exciting interplay of their bodies. His hand roaming down her belly quickened her pulse even further, especially as it moved to the sensitive bundle of nerves between her thighs, which was already teased too much. Beth gasped, as she was now overwhelmed with not only this wonderful pressure but also the slight friction of his fingers. Her eyelids fluttered closed and a lustful moan slipped from her lips. Her arms began to tremble under the weight of her upper body and the storm of emotions within her. She moaned and writhed as a wave of ecstasy sent her over the edge. All strength disappeared from her limbs and she would have collapsed on him exhausted, had he not sat up and enfolded her quivering body in his arms. She pushed her trembling arms around his neck, her flushed face buried in his shoulder and tried again to catch her breath. It was then she noticed Mick's body was still under full tension. He had not yet found his release. He was struggling against it, taking deep, calm breaths to fight against the feelings that the pulsing contractions of her abdomen sparked in him. He didn't want to finish this exciting adventure yet, and Beth was grateful for that. She had never felt as close to him as she did right now, physically joint with him in this way. Never had the feeling been stronger, that he was hers entirely.

She lifted her head, let her gaze roam adoringly over his so familiar facial features and kissed him, gently and affectionately. His hands stroked her hair again from her slightly sweaty face, and caressed her cheeks.

"I love you," slipped hoarsely and quietly from his lips and the warm, happy feeling which spread in Beth's interior, threatened to burst from her chest. She wanted to return his words full of love but was not able to because Mick's thumb had slipped across her lower lip and was then replaced with his soft sensual mouth. A small band of languorous showers trickled down her back as his fingers now, once again, stroked slowly over her shoulder blades and then gently felt their way down her spine to her hips and caressed her buttocks. His mouth slipped from her lips, moved slowly to her chin and then down her neck. As they touched her collarbone, Beth was amazed that these little touches were sufficient to ignite her passion once more. It began with a soft moan, as his lips closed again on one of her sensitive nipples, drawing, teasing, sucking in a most provocative way. Beth's arms closed more tightly around his neck and pulled him toward her. His movements inside her started anew, at first slowly and carefully. But he was now unable to hold back any longer. His hand cupped her neck, his other arm slid around her hips as he sat up a bit and rolled her onto her back on the mattress. He drove deeper into her with one strong thrust, daring her to wrap her legs more tightly around his hips. She watched him, his face dark with passion, his eyes closed in concentration and smiled, registering with incredulous joy that in fact this wonderful tension was again building in her abdomen, which was so exciting and at the same time so unbearable. Her heated body suddenly seemed to sense everything much more clearly than before: Mick's soft skin, the tight muscles of his body expanding and contracting against her, his alluring scent, the taste of his skin, his lips, his tongue, his masculinity moving so provocatively inside her, the energy and power emanating from him and above all his deep love for her, his longing for her, their deep emotional connection...

Mick propped himself up with both hands beside her and lifted his upper body to be able to thrust harder and deeper into her. His eyes were veiled with desire and longing for sexual fulfillment, but he sought her eyes, longed for a contact that was beyond all physicality. Beth could feel it. And she wanted to give this to him, wanted to feel him in this intense way as well. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up to him, touched his open lips with hers and pressed her forehead against his. His beautiful eyes were close, his eyelashes almost touching hers. She suddenly had the feeling to be able to feel what he felt, to become one with him in such a perfect way that it took her breath away. The next thrust felt so intense that her own orgasm came over her with such force that she cried out in ecstasy. The intensity of this climax was so much more violent than the first. They soared together holding each other as their passion broke over and through them, and left them breathless and still in its wake.

The dam she had meant to hold up for a while, suddenly broke. All the feelings that had been bottled up inside her for over a year, erupted in one stroke, her body started to tremble shortly before the first sob slipped from her lips. Unsustainable tears sprang to her eyes and everything around her blurred. She didn't want it to happen... really didn't want to, but she began to cry softly and Mick, who had collapsed on her exhausted, lifted his head in alarm.

"Beth?" she could hear him ask her worried and she shook her head, sobbing, wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and pressed her face against his cheek.

"Ju... just hold me... hold me," she uttered haltingly and closed her eyes. Mick's arms immediately slid beneath her, around her, enclosing her securely between his body and the mattress.

Beth felt her inner despair, her grief and fears, subside in his arms, felt her tears run dry. And one thought seized her, like so many times before: _never again_ would she allow it to happen that someone could take this man away from her. _Never again_ would anyone or anything separate them.

"Never again," she whispered into his ear, and somehow she knew Mick understood what she was talking about.

* * *

Silence. Silence could sometimes be very beneficial, but sometimes also depressing. The silence that currently surrounded me had some of both. The absence of excited voices, workplace noise, or even the monotonous hum of the freezers was something immensely relaxing in itself. Even the constant clicking of the old clock in the living room could not disturb this feeling. On the other hand, this silence also allowed too much room for thoughts, which were currently far from a reassuring nature. Even if it had appeared to my friends, as if I had everything under control and tackled matters with cool composure... my emotional state was currently a boiling volcano of troubled feelings and terrible anxiety. Of course, Elizabeth's information had provided a better picture of the overall state of affairs, but this did not detract from the fact that my friends and I were in a very precarious situation. In the next forty-eight hours it would be decided, for all of us, if we would be, for the rest of our probably not so prolonged life, on the run, or whether we would go to war against one of the most dangerous organizations along with all other vampires. Both possibilities were not particularly ideal. But at least the latter hid a little hope that we might someday return to our old lives after a period of time – that was if the war went well for our side.

One thing I had definitely decided: I would not deliver Mick to anyone – neither to the Legion, nor to the vampires... even if I had to give my life for him.

A small, sad smile involuntarily appeared on my lips. It had been a long time ago that someone had been this important to me and I had never expected to feel that way about someone again. From the beginning my friendship with Mick had been different from all the others who had come and gone throughout my long life. We had had a certain connection with each other from the very start - a connection neither of us had wanted, for we hadn't even liked each other that much at first. But this peculiar connection we both had felt, had finally welded us together, had made us friends, almost brothers. But when I thought I had lost Mick forever, I knew then how much I loved him. I loved him as much as my cold heart permitted. The idea of giving up my wealth and the high life couldn't frighten me more, but if I thought it would help save my friend, I would. For I was keenly aware that his life was still in danger and I would protect him - even if it was the last thing I did on earth.

Of course I knew the matter wouldn't be settled by simply putting myself in front of him as a living shield. To effectively protect Mick, there had to be a better plan andif anyone was going to come up with one, it was Josef Kostan. Only higher powers had set a time frame that didn't quite correspond to my wishes and made the development of a _good _plan a little more difficult. Of course, we had already begun preparations but I was not sure whether they would be ready in time, and above all, whether this _quick_ plan would be sufficient to get Mick _and_ Beth out of harm's way in time. Because one thing was clear to me: If Beth didn't survive the whole thing, I might as well throw Mick, alive, into her grave. At the moment he was as dependent on her as a baby in the womb. She provided him with everything he needed: energy, strength and love. Without her, there would be no Mick. It was scary and shocking, but true. Without her, Mick would not have recovered as much as he had. He could even now take part in our planning and actions, and every second he spent with her, gave him more strength and more courage. That was the only reason why I let the two of them stay together in Beth's room.

After a few hours of sleep I had woken, due to my inner restlessness, and went upstairs to make my usual rounds to check if everything was still as peaceful as it seemed. Mick and Beth had been quiet, but not quiet enough to fool my sensitive ears. I knew these telltale sounds just too well and had immediately realized what the two of them were up to in Beth's room. For a few minutes I had to think about what I should do, but after a moment of interested eavesdropping, it had become obvious that _sounds_ Beth's made were more joyfully than pained. Mick would seemingly be, for awhile, quite human enough to constitute no danger to her. They should be allowed to enjoy the delights of intimate physical love. So I retired to the living room after another moment of now _envious_ eavesdropping, where I had lapsed into deep brooding. Precisely about Mick's current state, his future development, the potential dangers and problems approaching us, and so on... And so I sat for an hour or two on the couch, thinking, and could not suppress my own fears, without letting another ten come up.

Silence. Sometimes, silence could also be stressful. Sometimes, you missed the excited voices, the noise of other people, which could tear you so beautifully from your melancholy thoughts, and force you to suppress your fears, at least for a short time.

I listened with eager attention into the silence, listened to see if Mick and Beth were maybe one more time in the act of overlooking my unofficial prohibition and I got the chance to sneak up to their door again... of course, only to collect new material for my teasing. But instead I heard a different sound from their direction. If I was not mistaken, somebody had just opened the door. Yes, I now heard the sound of bare feet on the floorboards of the hall. Wonderful!

I quickly sucked air through my nose and could not stop the grin from creeping up on my face. Beth. A clearly tired, slightly groggy Beth as I noticed when she came into the living room and purposefully headed for the kitchen area. Well, too much strenuous physical activity can cause a tremendous thirst.

I turned around a little on the couch and watched her taking a large glass from the cupboard, fill it with water and then empty it in greedy gulps. I waited until she had put the glass away, then took a breath.

"Well...! Are you a little sleepless tonight, too?"

Beth cringed violently and spun around to me, clutching her chest frightened. When she recognized me in the dim light of the early morning hour she let out a half angry, half relieved sigh. "Do you really have to frighten me so much?" she hissed at me and moved toward me. Apparently she was not aware of how sensitive the nose of a vampire was, for I could not only smell Mick on her, but also the fact that in the past few hours the two had probably breached our agreement _multiple_ times.

"What woke you?" I asked with a smile. "Were you worried about Mick?"

It was really a sight for the gods how the expression on her face could change from reproachfully to caught to complete innocence. "No... I... I was just thirsty..."

"I hope he's sleeping peacefully in his bed," I added in an especially fatherly tone, and enjoyed the ever-darkening red of her cheeks. "The poor guy looked sooo tired last evening. He had for sure not shown any sign of life."

She nodded her head - too fast to make herself not suspicious. But what else could she do?

"On the other hand, he often has nightmares," I wondered aloud. "Maybe I should check and see if he's ok." I pretended that I was going to stand up and was happy like a little boy, when she took a big step towards me and reached out a hand anxiously.

"It's ... It's really not necessary," she said quickly. "I've just checked..."

"I thought you weren't worried about him?" I blinked at her in feigned surprise. Meanwhile, I had a really hard time hiding my grin.

"I did ... well, yeah, not really... but I thought since I was already going to the kitchen..."

"Yes... then you can just stop by to see how he is..." I smiled affectionately. "Very caring – really."

She tried hard to give me an approving smile, but it looked pretty cramped. "That's how I know he's really sleeping peacefully," she added. That certainly was not a lie. I as well, get so relaxed and tired after having sex that I could sleep like a baby. And the fact that Mick had not instantly appeared in the living room, to bring his Beth back to bed, proved her statement.

"This, I think, for him is very important with the efforts that await him soon," she said, looking at me intently, probably to make sure that I would not still go to his room. It was really itching to find a reason why I still needed to look in on him - just to enjoy watching Beth start to sweat. But she didn't let me get a word in edgewise.

"Why are _you_ awake so early?" she cleverly tried to divert my attention from the subject.

"Well..., I heard some strange noises," I said slowly and she favored me with a bit of a horrified look in her eyes. "I thought..., I better go see what it is and then thought it was probably just some wounded animal that's being drug around outside. The poor thing was moaning quite loudly, but when I went to look for it there was nothing more to be heard..."

From red to pale, and back to red. What a wonderful display of colors!

"In any case, I decided to sit a little longer in the living room," I went on with relish, "to give the animal, if it should reappear, a finishing _thrust_...," I shook my head playing confused, "... I mean _stroke_, of course…"

Beth was too smart to not notice that I had been taunting her and that I knew for some time that Mick was in her room - and that he certainly hadn't gone there before, just to cuddle with her. She couldn't look at me anymore, but tried hard to regain her self-control by carefully looking at her bare feet.

"We... we know what we're doing, Josef," she finally said softly and gave up her hiding game.

What a shame. It had just started to get _really_ funny.

"I hope so," I replied softly and smiled at her gently as she dared again to lift her eyes. It really was not that I didn't understand. They had had to suffer so much in the past year with the loss of the other... That they both now longed so painfully for the closeness with each other was indeed not surprising. But it was slowly time again that they both came to their senses, because today we would tickle the vampire in Mick awake again.

"You... you really don't need to worry," said Beth, as if she could read my mind. "We'll somehow get a grip on this..." Her eyes roamed back to the ground, but it still didn't escape me that the color of her cheeks was slightly more intense again. "It's just the stress and... and the threat from the outside... I... I just have the feeling that there's not much time left for us anymore... and ..."

"Beth, it's okay," I stopped her and immediately gained back her attention. "You and Mick are two grown humans and I trust you to keep in mind all possible hazards that may arise from your actions. I for sure don't want to restrict you. All I want is for you and Mick to be well! And you _are_ well, aren't you?"

Her cheeks were still a bit rosy, but the smile that appeared on her face was so happy that a little laugh escaped from my throat.

"Good," I said with a broad grin. "And I think that Mick will see this too. So amuse yourselves, as long as you still have time to do so... and please, let me have my mockery."

This time it was she who uttered a faint laugh. She pushed a strand of her tousled hair out of her face still slightly embarrassed. "Then... then I go back to bed again," she said softly and took a few steps towards the exit, while I pondered, which clever saying I could bid her adieu. But that was fool's errand. To my surprise she stopped in her motion once again, turned round and came back to me.

"Josef, I... there is one more thing ...," she said and gave me the impression that there was suddenly something very important that had occurred to her.

I waited patiently while she still hemmed and hawed for a few more seconds.

"I know our situation is currently tense enough, but..." She looked around briefly, as if she was afraid someone would overhear us. Now I was really upset.

"How well do you know August?"

The question surprised me - and I did not like it at all. It smelled of trouble.

"Well, I wouldn't call him a close friend," I replied hesitantly, "but he has helped me a few times and proven he can be discreet. Why do you ask?"

She took a deep breath. It did not seem to be easy for her to voice her thoughts. "Because I... I've overheard a phone call of his..."

I was taken aback. "He called someone from here?"

She nodded and caused that a good deal of anger bubbled up in me. "That means he has embezzled a cell phone from me. With whom did he phone?"

"He said with a good friend who's also a doctor," she replied. "He apparently told him everything concerning Mick..."

"_What_?" My voice was a little too loud and I tried to lower it with my next angry words. "He's exchanging information with someone unknown to us about Mick?" The thought made me extremely angry.

Beth looked around again, perhaps to determine if my volume had awakened the human inhabitants of this house. "Please, Josef, calm down! It wasn't that dramatic. I only want you to sit down and talk with him about it. He has assured me several times that we can trust his friend and that he won't betray us. But I'm just not comfortable with the whole thing and wanted you to know it."

I counted down from ten inside, trying to breathe deeply and calmly. This was not the time to learn such things. "How long have you kept this to yourself?" I asked, much more composed by now.

I saw that she swallowed hard and prepared me for her next words would not please me.

"A ... a few days," she admitted reluctantly.

I had to take another deep breath. So far, nothing bad had happened and we had had no further adverse visits, which meant that August's little secret was not as dramatic as it sounded on first impression. I knew him well enough to know that he would never make a deal with the Legion, but that he had confided in another doctor, proved to me what I had suspected earlier: With his help and his work with Mick August followed his own goals. The only question was whether they would please me.

"Josef?" Beth asked, somewhat anxious, because I hadn't said a word for a while now. "This will not become a further problem for us, will it?"

"I hope not," I gave back honestly and uttered a little sigh. "I'm not planning on going downstairs now, and take August to task, if that's what you're afraid of. We need to address the whole thing calmly. As I said: We can not afford violent conflicts amongst ourselves."

My words seemed to calm the young woman. I could see a big part of her tension dropping from her body.

"But you are going to confront him?" she asked anyway.

I nodded and managed a confident smile, while I was slowly but surely able to push my own rage back into the farthest corner of my mind where it had come from. It made no sense to get worked up over this, without knowing what was behind this whole thing. August would wake up soon and there was still time to settle this... and to once again make it clear who was in charge here!

"Then I'll now, _really_ head back into bed," Beth smiled and immediately set into motion. I let her walk a few steps, then I took a deep breath.

"Oh, and Beth..."

She turned to me questioningly, raising an eyebrow.

"If you wake up Mick, by climbing back into bed with him, please remind him that it's slowly getting light and soon a few more people will be on their feet who can hear you two."

Beth looked at me for a moment with wide eyes and open mouth. Then nodded and disappeared with a crimson face into the darkness of the hallway.

Silence. Sometimes, it also offered the opportunity to enjoy a beautiful moment all alone for oneself.


	52. Not alone

_*__Hi my dears! I thank you so, so much for your comforting words and your great reviews. It's always so great to see that some people like my story that much that they even reward me with a review and give me the possibility to get a glimpse of their thoughts while reading my story (I'm so glad you all think Josef is totally in character – that makes me so happy for I liked him so very much in the series) A big, fat hug to all of you and especially to SG6169, who's such a help for me and beta read this chapter so quickly, and to my best friend Rory who translated this chapter for me although she's often so busy. And now I let you read and again hope to get a few reviews to see if you liked this chapter too. Best wishes, Jenna*_

_P.S. Marcy: It's great to hear that my story helps you to relax after work. It's the same with me when I come home and am able to write. I also work with children and they can be quite stressing. Fantasy is a quite good medicine to alleviate stress._

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**N****ot alone**

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_"Maybe some dreams do not have a happy ending, because we wake up too early." _

_ Kurt Haberstich _

* * *

Beth awoke to daylight streaming into her room. She was a little confused at first because she realized she was not in her bed, but lying on the floor, next to it, on her mattress. But the confusion only lasted a moment when she noticed she was naked beneath the covers, and the memories replayed in her sleepy mind, in a very intense way, of just how she had come to end up camping on the floor. Indeed, a little heat rose in her face at the same time her lips curled into a blissful smile – even though Mick was no longer beside her and had deprived her of the joy of waking in his arms.

If she was honest, she was even slightly relieved that he was already up and had allowed her to continue sleeping. Waking up in his arms during the night had only resulted in not being able to resist each other two more times during the night, keeping one another from the sleep they both needed so desperately. It had been simply heaven both times, but sex, as beautiful as it was, was also a very arduous affair, and Beth had already felt even before her conversation with Josef quite weak and exhausted. The hours of sleep, that Mick had given her with his silent retreat, had been a great gift. She now felt rested, relaxed and just so happily in love, as she had never felt before - not even with Josh.

Content, she breathed in the fresh air, which was carried in through the open window, and stretched lazily. At least she had planned to... but once she raised her arms above her head and stretched her legs out, she let out a pitiful groan, and her face grimaced with pain. Muscle ache! She hadn't counted on that. She moved once again, now more carefully, and raised her eyebrows in surprise. It was really astonishing the unusual places one's body could become stiff and achy. But honestly... how was such a night supposed to remain without consequences? It hurt, but somehow she just had to laugh. If that was the punishment for her irrational behavior, she could live with it.

She sat up slowly, wrapped the thin cover around her naked body, then stood with further groans and laughter and finally gathered a few light things together to wear. Even if she didn't like admitting it, her longing for Mick, together with her memories, had come to life again, pushing to the forefront – ahead of her hunger and thirst, which had also become apparent.

Beth was soon done with her morning's ritual and set off for the living room, cheery and full of energy. She was used to finding it nearly empty. What she was not accustomed to, was the sight of a well-prepared breakfast table that seemed to be waiting just for her. When she moved closer, she noticed a note on the only unused plate there – written in Mick's hurried handwriting, that she recognized immediately. Her happy smile was back again, even before her eyes flew over the lines.

_Didn't want to wake you. You looked so adorable in your sleep. I have generously taste tested the food, and deemed it worthy of you. Hope you think the same. Miss you already. Better go before I'm tempted to wake you again… Mick_.

Beth let out a small, happy sigh, folded the note lovingly and slipped it in her pocket. Of course she behaved like a lovesick teenager, but it was just so wonderful!

She took two of the freshly-cut slices of bread, coated them generously with cheese, picked up her plate and made her way to the porch. She wrinkled her forehead, confused, when she noticed the outline of several people by the window. Then she heard their voices and asked herself who of the vampires in this house had ventured out at such an early hour into the fresh air. The question was answered when she stepped through the door. It was August and Logan and on the bench beside them, wrapped in a thin blanket, leaning on a thick pillow, sat Frank. He already looked much better than the night before, but was still a little too pale.

"...most stories have arisen, nonetheless, from fairy tales and the active imagination of some bored vampires," August had just finished his sentence, and nodded to Beth somewhat tense, when he noticed her. Logan turned around immediately to her and gave her a similarly benevolent smile like the professor. But then his gaze wandered back to August.

"I don't know about that," he said, while Beth decided to join the small circle. To her regret she had been unable to spot Mick from her quick glance around and she really didn't want to have breakfast alone.

"Some things are quite possible," Logan continued. "I mean, for example, even humans are capable of hypnotizing others."

"Hypnosis is completely different from mind reading," August said. "Hypnotherapy is a clinically accepted procedure and its effectiveness has been scientifically documented. While there's no documentation or theories that can conclusively explain telepathy scientifically."

"Yes, but vampires are also considered a myth in society," Logan objected and Beth bit firmly into her bread, nodding affirmatively. She didn't know exactly what this was about, but it sounded very interesting.

"But your existence is scientifically possible to explain," now Frank also interfered.

"Just because something can not be explained scientifically does not mean it doesn't exist!" Logan gave back defiantly. "What about God for example?"

August furrowed his brows confused. "You believe in God?"

"No, but I think it's still a good example," Logan said. "Besides, a lot of other people believe in him..." He turned to Beth, to her surprise, put his arm lively around her shoulder and pulled her into their midst. "Beth here for example... she surely believes in God, right?" He raised his eyebrows and looked inquiringly at her with his penetrating brown eyes.

"Um... in a way," she stammered, but that seemed to be enough for him.

"Then explain conclusively to Beth why there is no God," he challenged his opposite, certain of victory.

"I can't," the doctor replied immediately. "And I don't want to either."

"Why not?"

"Because faith is a subjective thing. Besides, there's no real scientific proof that God _doesn't_ exist."

"Aha!" Logan lifted his finger admonishingly. "And there is no proof that the stories around _Him_ are just fairy tales either!"

"Uh... yes, there is," said August, and shook his head without understanding.

"Which one?" Logan challengingly crossed his arms over his chest.

"The basic laws of physics and biology, for example?" The doctor looked at him as if he had a somewhat stupid child in front of him. "People can't fly!"

"Pfffft!" Logan made a dismissive gesture. "I'm not talking of the flying thing! That one is clear to me!"

"Um... are you all talking about this... this superior vampire?" Beth took advantage of the brief pause between the two men to join in the conversation.

Logan nodded eagerly. "We've been thinking about what to expect tomorrow and have come to the question of whether the rumors that have been spread in our community for ages, are true."

"And what are these rumors?" Beth asked curious.

"Old wives' tales," August claimed with a dismissive gesture, but Beth preferred to look at Logan with questioningly raised eyebrows.

"I have to agree with some of them August," the younger vampire said, "but with others..." He shrugged his shoulders a bit.

"So _He_'s no ordinary vampire then," Beth concluded and bit into her bread again. The cheese was really very tasty.

"No he's definitely not!" Logan gave her an almost indignant look, and even August didn't seem to want to disagree this time.

Beth chewed a few times, trying to get down at least a part of her bite. "Does he look different, as well?" She managed to get out reasonably clear.

"W e l l ..." Logan put on a very self-important face. "They say _He_ has a very eerie appearance, so awful, that most vampires are afraid of him. Some who have even seen him say _He_ looks like Nosferatu. From the movie, you know..." Logan formed his hands into claws to demonstrate, with wide eyes and a menacing growl, as he reached out for Beth.

Beth's laughter got stuck in her throat, not because Logan really scared her, but because while taking a breath, she inhaled a piece of bread and burst into a coughing fit. Instantly Logan's strong hand landed on her back and the crumb popped out onto the wooden floor.

"Hey, hey, it's me, Logan!" He misunderstood her reaction and tried to calm her under further heavy pats on her back. Only when she defensively held up a hand, did he let up on her.

"Thanks, I'm good now," she croaked and put down the rest of her breakfast on the railing of the porch. Her appetite was gone for now. She had to clear her throat several times to get her normal voice back.

"If you say, he looks like Nosferatu, does that mean he's got a bald head with pop eyes and mouse teeth?"

"Mouse teeth?" Logan looked at her confused.

"What she means is, if his two front teeth are long and sharp instead of his canines," August explained somewhat annoyed.

"Oh, that. Could be. In any case, he's supposed to have these enormously long, thin fingers with these sharp claws on the ends." Once again, Logan tried to give a dramatic presentation of the superior vampire, but this time Beth's attention was more on August, who could only shake his head.

"Just because _He_ is very old doesn't mean he looks any different than us on the outside," he said. "I don't think that his vampire teeth are in a different place and that he has the claws of a predator..."

"Especially since he must have been a human at sometime," Frank joined in.

Logan raised his index finger warningly. "However, this may not be true either!"

"You're not going to give us that bat-theory, are you?" August gave him another annoyed look and was punished for it when Logan threw him a furious glance.

"Of course not. However, there are a few older vampires who stubbornly claim _He_ is one of the ancient vampires. You know, this Archangel theory, that says _He_'s never been anything other than a vampire. And if that's true, _He_ really can look different from us."

"If this is true, he would be a survivor or at least a direct descendant of the Nigong, no Archangel," Frank interjected now clearly excited. "But they did not survive."

"Says who?" Logan provokingly raised his eyebrows.

"Science," Frank replied.

"And how many times has science been wrong?"

Frank shrugged. One could see that he had no real desire to argue with Logan - not just because he didn't have the strength for it, but also because the young vampire's assertions and the stories about this ancient vampire probably fascinated him too much. This showed the glow of eyes and the slight nervousness that had struck him. And Beth could certainly sympathize with him.

"And just what_ are_ these mystical qualities of this superior vampire?" she insisted.

"Facts or legends?" Logan gave back.

"Both."  
"Well since there are no real facts, let's go straight to the rumors..." The young vampire took a deep breath. "Mind reading, hypnosis, shape-shifting, superhuman strength..."

"More superhuman than those of an ordinary vampire?"

"By far!" Logan knew. "There is no vampire in the world who can compete with him. And the fact that this is true, I firmly believe - since Mick has shown his new side. And they only injected him with a small portion of ancient blood."

Beth nodded. It was certainly conceivable. She knew from previous conversations with Mick, that the powers of a vampire increased, the older they got. If this superior vampire was the oldest vampire in the world, he probably possessed enormous strength. Not such a pleasant thought, considering that they may have to fight him if _He _refused to cooperate with them.

Beth was curious when Logan suddenly looked past her. She turned around to find out what was distracting him. There were three men engrossed in conversation, moving towards the house. Two tried to shield their heads from the sun with a hand, while the man in the middle seemed unconcerned with it shining on his face. Beth could not prevent her heart from making a little leap as she recognized Mick in him.

"Speak of the devil," she could hear Logan mumble behind her, while the corners of her mouth lifted on their own into a beaming smile and the fluttering in her stomach told her that her honeymoon phase was nowhere near over. On the contrary, it seemed as if last night had only started this exciting phase of their relationship. It was only her pride and the presence of the other three people that she didn't just leap from the porch and fly into Mick's arms like a lovesick teenager. Her recent interesting conversation and related worries about the upcoming vampire meetings were completely forgotten...

Whatever Seth, Mick and Josef were discussing didn't seem to be too serious in nature, because Mick threw his head back in laughter, then laid an arm around Seth's narrow shoulders and gave the overjoyed boy a brief but warm squeeze, while Josef also could not hide his grin. It warmed Beth's heart to watch Mick from afar. He seemed so relaxed and happy... like then when he had become human again after taking the cure and together they had spent a wonderful day at the beach. And again she realized how much she loved this so human side of him also.

"I... uh... I'm going inside," she heard August's tense voice behind her and the next minute the slightly pale doctor pushed past her. Apparently Josef had already spoken with him and the conversation had not been very pleasant. He probably wanted to stay out of his sight for a while. But the fact that he was still alive and seemed unharmed, as far as she could tell from her quick glance, told her that it must not have been that bad.

The three men were approaching fast and after a few seconds Beth's urge to run up to Mick had grown so huge that she could not help herself from at least walking over to the little steps of the porch. Mick had discovered her long ago, and his beaming smile could almost compete with hers. Beth noticed that Josef watched them both amused, but that did not bother her really for she could not persuade her eyes to look away from the beautiful bright blue eyes that were fixed on her. Only the amused sound of his voice, caused her to give at least a little of her attention to Josef.

"Well, well," he grinned, "someone finally woke up from her coma. I thought I was going to have to ask Alejandro for a small bottle of smelling salts, so we could breathe a little life back into you after that exhausting night..."

The small interaction between Mick and Josef happened so fast that one could hardly follow it with the human eye, but as far as Beth could tell, Mick was trying to nudge his friend with his elbow. Josef was able to avoid it with minimal movement quite elegantly, while their eyes remained on Beth's face.

Beth only grinned. "_I_ feel wonderful," she replied calmly. "And what has you up so early to roast in the sun?"

"We're doing a small field test," Josef said grinning and with two quick leaps met her on the porch. "Quick... What makes a stressed vampire move faster: the rays of the sun or Mick's terribly good mood?"

Mick gave a quiet laugh and Beth fervently hoped that none of the others present saw the light goose bumps that instantly formed on her arms.

"Josef had to find out that the sun, compared to me, is only a weak name," he said to Beth almost proudly and it made her antsy that he had not also stepped onto the porch to be with her. Instead, he stopped at the bottom of the small steps and eyed her up from top to bottom, still smiling. Why did she have to put on her old jeans and this even less attractive blouse?

"We've placed the remaining cameras around the area and connected them to the power cables which were laid yesterday," Seth said, giving her the first reasonable answer to her earlier question as he pushed past her to escape into the shade of the roof. But Beth didn't look at him. Instead, she soaked in the sight of Mick, as if she had not seen him for ages. The fact that she still had this moronic smile on her face was a small, but not to be changed curse. How could a man in plain ole jeans and a simple - admittedly rather tight-fitting – white t-shirt look that sinfully good. And even with this three-day old beard he was still so damn hot.

"Yes, this is Mick," a little voice whispered into her ear. She winced, then looked a bit annoyed into Josef's amused face, which was now close to hers. "Maybe last night it had been a bit too dark, but if you just imagine him without the clothes..."

Beth was a bit faster than Mick had been before - maybe it was due to the fact that Josef was not expecting such a reaction from her - in any case her right elbow hit him square in the chest and he gave a faint "Oof!"

"You deserve it," she whispered back and Josef's feigned indignant face showed her that it could not really have hurt. However, it was probably enough to get him to turn away from her. Instead, he approached Logan together with Seth and began a conversation about the new surveillance technology, while Beth turned back to Mick. The beam he met her with overpowered her again and she automatically moved down a step as if drawn to him by an invisible magnet. That was as far as she made it though. She let out a soft, surprised sound when Mick suddenly leaned forward, wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed her to his body, lifting her from the steps and removing her contact with the ground. He apparently had no desire to hide their love from the others anymore, which had become quite physical during the past hours. His face took on an expression of overwhelming tenderness, before pressing his lips to hers, in a long intimate kiss that gave her butterflies in her stomach. Her protest "Mick!" was drowned slightly but caused him finally to let her get a little air to breathe, but had not really moved his face away from hers.

"We... we're not alone," she whispered against his lips, trying to get her own emotions under control with all her might. It was frightening how quickly her craving for his touch, for physical affection returned, for she had assumed that last night would have more than enough satisfied at least a large part of her needs. Apparently this was not the case. Her heart was beating at such a vigorous pace that she was sure that Mick had to feel it in this wonderfully close physical contact they had.

Despite her words, his lips sought contact with hers once more. The amount of butterflies in her stomach was at its highest and on their own her fingers gently stroked the back of his neck, caressing the bare skin his shirt did not cover. She could not help but respond tenderly to the kiss, since it was only an expression of his affection, and not really one of the heated kisses they had exchanged last night.

"Mick," she murmured under half-closed lids. "Just set me back down, okay?"

"Why?" he replied with a mischievous smile, and she had to laugh. Her gaze sank into his happily shining eyes and her longing for a place where they could be undisturbed grew with every second that passed. Her fingers glided up his neck and quickly found themselves in his hair again, with joy, feeling the small cowlicks which slowly emerged in his fast-growing hair. Where his soft curls, so beloved by her, were coming back - even though his hair was still very short at the moment...

"Because I'll start to long for things we really have no time for at the moment," she whispered to him with a slightly scratchy voice and her eyes wandered down to his lips, which curled into this outrageously sleazy smile. "Besides, I'm much too heavy," she added, and immediately he furrowed his brows snubbed.

"You're not," he said in a reproachful tone. "If it was up to me, we would stand here like this forever."

She laughed again. "We would starve, Mick."

"But we would be together," he replied softly, and again stole a gentle kiss from her. Slowly but surely her self control was melting away.

"But, before we would die pathetically of thirst," she added hoarsely.

Mick gave a theatrical sigh. "As I've said once before, you're such a romantic, Beth."

Her laughter died away under the gentle pressure of his lips and this time she gave herself up to his kiss, and let him kiss her much more deeply and intimately. That's why, it came as such a surprise to her, when he leaned forward and put her back on her feet. It was almost unbearable to loose contact with his lips again.

"Have you had breakfast?" Mick asked and Beth raised her eyebrows in confusion, but still managed a slight nod, although this was not really the truth. She did not quite understand what this question was about. Mick threw a quick glance past her to the porch, probably to make sure the others were still distracted enough by their conversation not to be able to eavesdrop on them. Then he bent forward to her and brought his mouth quite close to her ear. "What do you think about a cool dip in the lake?" he asked in a very low voice and once more sent small shivers down her back when his lips slightly brushed her ear while doing so.

She looked up, saw the twinkle in Mick's eyes and knew for sure it would be something totally different from 'cooling'. She felt hot and cold at the same time, while inadvertently a salacious smile slipped over her lips. Pictures from last night played past her inner eye and brought a renewed desire for intimate, physical contact with them, which was not quite healthy.

"Do we have time for it?" she asked with a slightly hoarse voice, even though the hormones inside her already jumped for joy. "There's still a lot to do..."

"We won't stay away forever," he smiled, and made it really hard for her to resist his charm, because he let his hands slide up and down her bare arms, thus sending more pleasant shivers throughout her body. This was really not fair...

"And the others are so beautifully occupied," he added even quieter. The deep look in his eyes made her pathetic resistance melt like butter in the sun. How easily one could forget what challenges you had to face that day when you were so in love - especially if your own need for affection was returned in such a significant way. But her badly failing reason received unwanted support - from an entirely unexpected direction. The first thing Beth heard was the infuriated voice of a man, only then did it dawn on her what he was saying. It was a name. One that was not unfamiliar to her.

"Monstruo!"  
Almost simultaneously, Mick and Beth interrupted their intimate eye contact and tried to find out from which direction the danger threatened. But it was already too late. A dark shadow flew towards Mick and bounced against his chest with such force that it actually carried him off his feet. He was able to catch his fall halfway with his arms sprawled out behind him but that only left him helpless and at the mercy of the long tongue of the attacking 'Monster' which was now licking all over his face full of enthusiasm and devotion. It hadn't helped much as Mick turned his head away and pushed an arm between him and the animal.

Beth couldn't help it - she had to laugh. The facial expression of the dog which spoke of so much love, stood in strong contrast to Mick's, that wavered between amusement and disgust, as he struggled to get back to his feet.

"Aw, how beautiful! Young love!" she could hear Josef behind her now and turned to face him. The vampire leaned his elbows on the railing, a grin from ear to ear, while Beth wondered uneasily how long it had been since his conversation with the others had been finished. At least, Logan and Seth could not be seen anymore. Embarrassing, how fast she could forget the world around her, when she was together with Mick.

"Monster! Let go!" Mick tried to communicate to the love-sick dog, while Manolo and Alejandro approached with quick steps. In fact, the dog took a few steps backward and even sat down - until it saw Beth. For a brief moment an almost human sparkle appeared in his eyes, then he also jumped up on her and made her stagger. It was only because of Mick's quick reflexes that she hadn't landed on the ground, like him before, but thanks to his supporting arm at her back she remained on her feet.

"Yeah... yeah, all right," she tried to calm the animal and was almost sorry that she had given him a piece of sausage during his last visit. The greeting would certainly have been only half as cordial. But with the support of Mick and finally of Manolo, who had hurried as quickly as possible to them, she managed to bring the dog back to all four paws.

"I'm so sorry," the young Mexican murmured embarrassed and hooked a rough rope into the collar of the animal. "But when he sees you Mick, he is no longer tamable."

"That's okay," Mick waved off. His gaze was fixed on Manolo's father though, who looked at him with a strange mixture of suppressed joy and regret. Only the moment the two men took a big step towards each other and embraced heartily, did Beth become aware that they had not met before.

Alejandro grabbed Mick by his arms in a rather fatherly gesture and pushed him away a little so he could take a closer look at him.

"You look good," he stated with a slightly husky voice, and Beth thought she had even seen tears shining in his eyes. Once again, she realized that it was a bit strange to witness a reunion where such strong feelings were shown, and she decided to get to know more about the story of the Mexican family next time possible. After all she finally had a right to know more about Mick's past.

"That's because of all the good care," she could hear Mick answer now and Alejandro looked at her so kindly, that her face blushed immediately. She was really grateful to Josef when he stepped up next to her, and thus immediately drew Alejandro's and Manolo's attention to himself.

"What brings you to us lepers," he said with a slight smile, a hand shielding his face from the sun.

"Half an hour ago we heard the sound of an engine from the distance and wanted to look around a bit to see if it was Daniel who had taken off again," Manolo explained and Josef raised his eyebrows in astonishment.

"Half an hour ago?" he repeated. "Daniel has been gone longer than that."

"It could have been an hour ago," Manolo gave in

Josef exchanged a quick look with Mick who shrugged. "Could be," he said. "But maybe we should take another look around. Beth and I wanted to take a little walk anyway..."

Josef raised an eyebrow. "Did you, eh?" The smile was so minimal that one could hardly recognize it. "Well, then just take that young man and his super detection-dog with you, so I can talk a little bit with his father at the house."

Beth's disappointment was big, but she showed neither the disappointment nor the irritation with herself. How could one be such a glutton?

Mick accepted Josef's task with a serenity she really admired. "Sure," he smiled at his friend.

"Great," the other one replied satisfied and briefly patted his shoulder, then nodded to Alejandro and the Mexican obediently followed him to the house.

Mick's eyes were glued to his back, until the two were out of hearing and sight, then he turned around to Manolo with a warm smile. "Where have you already been?"

"Not really that far," the young man admitted and shouldered his rifle which Beth had just noticed. "We wanted to first make sure that you hadn't received an unannounced visitor."

Mick nodded understandingly. "Wouldn't it make more sense to split up then?" he brought out so convincingly that even Beth though he really wanted to look for potential troublemakers.

Manolo hesitated slightly, but finally he nodded as well.

"Good." Mick appeared very satisfied. "Then we'll take that area over there..." Of course, the small, romantic lake lay precisely in the direction Mick pointed to now. "...and you look over there..." He pointed into the opposite direction. "In about an hour we'll meet here again."

"An hour?" The generous period of time seemed to surprise Manolo and Beth really had to try hard not to burst into soft laughter. It felt great that she wasn't the only one who had an enormous need for undisturbed togetherness that they didn't care about anything else around them.

"Too little?" Mick actually asked, taking advantage of Manolo's objection. "Let's say an hour and a half. Then we'll definitely make it."

"Uh... uh... yeah," was the only thing Manolo was able to say. Beth's thoughts, however, were already making somersaults. She needed a towel, and her beautiful dress, which she had hung yesterday over the clothesline behind the house. The way she looked now, she rather felt like a guy than like a desirable young woman - even though Mick didn't seem to see it that way. But she could certainly meet his wishes easier, if she wore less fabric on her body.

"Wait! I'll be right back," she let out quickly and confused not only Manolo but Mick as well, who opened his mouth to say something, but didn't get very far, because Beth had already turned on her heels and rushed off.

"Beth, stay calm," she muttered to herself, speeding up to round the corner of the house. Her heart had reached an unhealthy pace and pumped endorphins, produced by her excitement, with such force through her veins, that she soon became a bit dizzy. That was really unbelievable! A night of passion, and her emotional world was already going crazy. How could this go on with her? The otherwise rational and emancipated Beth Turner had completely lost her mind over a man. Strictly speaking, this was all Mick's fault. No, not only was he a very hot-blooded and incredibly sensitive lover who made it near impossible for her to behave decently around him - but he'd also managed to come up with a crazier idea than her, to find a way to amuse himself undisturbed with her once more. The hope alone, that his plan would work and give them another opportunity to become intimate with each other before Mick became a vampire again, brought her insides into a state of great turmoil. Beth was now aware that since yesterday she would be unable to think or act rationally, her reason running on economy mode as soon as Mick came near her. She couldn't do anything about it, except hope that this would change once they became accustomed to being together, like a regular couple - without all the stress and as long as that didn't change, it was just wonderful to behave completely unreasonable for a certain period of time.

Beth saw her dress still hanging on the clothesline that was at the back of the house. It fluttered promising in the breeze that today had brought, as if it were calling to her to wear again to a place that was filled with a romantic aura. Beth took a deep, satisfied breath before she reached for the light, supple fabric and gently pulled the dress off the line. She had not been able to wash it last night, but had only hung it on the clothesline after the rainfall. She could still smell Mick in the fabric, as she gently pressed the dress against her nose and inhaled his scent, closing her eyes with a happy smile. She remained that way for a few seconds, until suddenly goose bumps ran down her spine - goose bumps of a more unpleasant nature. She knew she had to be mistaken... her senses had to be playing a trick on her... because she suddenly had the unmistakable feeling that she was no longer alone, as if a rigid pair of eyes had rested on her back. Her eyelids quickly flew open and she held her breath, listening into the seemingly peaceful atmosphere around her as her heart beat faster. No suspicious noises, no breath of another person, no steps approaching her, and yet it seemed to her as if someone was there, now standing right behind her.

'Please let it be Mick or Josef or anyone else I know, please' she prayed inwardly as she dropped her hands with the dress and slowly turned her head to one side, simultaneously turning her body slightly in the same direction. Her heart stopped the moment she saw the outline of the dark, broad-shouldered figure behind her, the moment she heard the gentle flutter of a long dark cloak. She knew immediately that this man was completely foreign to her, felt it in his attitude, the dark, strange aura that emanated from him. She wanted to scream, back off from him, flee... but she did no such thing, was paralyzed with fear, and tore her eyes open wide in horror, gasping for breath, silently. A large, cool hand reached out for her, and almost gently covered her mouth while the other hand grabbed her arm tightly and the most piercing blue eyes she had ever seen in her life, captivated her gaze.

"Don't scream," the deep, velvety voice of the stranger softly reached her ear.

Even if she had wanted, she would not have been able to. Her throat was choked, while her mind was racing trying to understand what was happening here. Her instinct called to her to fight, bite and kick the man to free herself from his grip, but really did not filter down to her. Something was stopping her, making her completely incapable of acting.

"I won't harm you or any of your friends," the stranger continued in this oddly calming voice. "I'm only looking for someone that maybe you can help me find."

To Beth's own surprise, the man not only took his hand from her mouth, but let her go completely.

'Run! Run!' everything inside her roared, but she still couldn't move yet. She couldn't understand how he had appeared here all of a sudden, or what he wanted from her. And what was even more important - whether he was friend or foe...

"I'm looking for a good friend of mine," he told her with a gentle smile. "August Kendlroe. Do you know where I might find him?"

Beth moved her lips, but "W... w... who..." was all she could get out.

However, it seemed to be enough for the stranger. "Oh, I'm sorry," he smiled and reached out his hand. "I apparently forgot to introduce myself." His eyes flashed with amusement. "My name is Gabriel."


	53. Forebodings

_*__Here I am again with a new chapter. Thank you so much for the great feedback! I'm always so excited when I see someone has written a review. It's so motivating! A big hug to Cleo, who translated this new chapter for me and to Jo, who did this great beta-reading! You are such a support! So and now I wish you all much fun with the new chapter. See you at Sunday again, Jenna*_

_Sandra Fegan: That's funny – actually I'm also a teacher but don't work as one. I work at the moment as a social worker with children and teenagers who have problems with their families and their social behavior. It's a hard job, but I like it. But I need my fantasy world to relax after work._

_Lucretiareadsall: Your question is a good one and I try to answer it without telling too much of the things that will still happen. The Legion tried to make Mick a Nigong, but they didn't succeed. Mick is indeed a hybrid for now. Something between a vampire and a human, but not a real Nigong. In the sequel you'll find out much more about all this. _

* * *

**F****orebodings**

There it was. The tingling in the back of my neck which told me that something was wrong. The sudden raising of my hackles that had saved my life so many times before. This time it hit me so unprepared that I jumped up abruptly and instantly hedged my bets. I noticed only marginally that Alejandro, with whom I had just talked, gave me a confused look and Logan, who had just poured himself a glass of blood in the kitchen area, also turned round to look at me. My instincts led me to first make sure that no one tried to attack me from behind and then to sharpen my senses to perceive everything else that was happening in this house. I could not really smell or hear anything but my experienced vampire instincts told me that there was a foreign vampire somewhere outside the house. I could feel his presence even without perceiving him with my other senses.

"Alejandro, we must unfortunately postpone our conversation," I addressed the older Mexican who nodded and got up immediately. I could tell that he had guessed what was happening here.

"I'll fetch Manolo and take him back to the house," he said and hastened to the door. I also started moving but went to the corridor through which I could reach the back door of the house. Something told me that was where I had to go.

"Go down to Seth and make sure that the monitoring system is turned on, Logan!" I called to the stunned vampire over my shoulder, annoyed at myself that we had not done this earlier. "Immediately!"

"Is... is it starting now?" I could hear him ask in horror but did not answer him, not only because I had no time to do it but also because I didn't really know the answer to his question.

The vampire was old. I could now smell him in the corridor although I wasn't really close to him. Very old. Older than Lance, more powerful than Lance. Perhaps even more powerful than Lola or Elizabeth. That was bad because such old vampires lived only in Europe and were only in the narrow circle surrounding _Him_.

To my joy the back door of the house was open and I stormed out without knowing what I wanted to do if the vampire was indeed an enemy. In my head throbbed just one thought: Don't let him get into Mick's proximity until you know what he's up to.

I was fast but I was not the first one who faced the ancient vampire. Beth was already there staring at him with wide, terrified eyes, but still reaching out her hand to him as if in a trance. I moved quickly toward them and at the same time inspected the foreign vampire carefully. He was tall. Taller than me, and maybe even taller than Mick. A strong man but not just because he had become a vampire, I was sure. Broad shoulders and muscular arms were shown through the dark, softly falling coat he wore. He looked as if he had been turned into a vampire sometime in his mid-thirties. Clear-cut face, dark, short hair, piercing blue eyes. Not beautiful in the original sense, but attractive and very charismatic. I already didn't like him. And then there was that smell, that aura of power and fearlessness which he emitted with such intensity that to my annoyance my antsy feeling changed into a proper excitement. I hadn't been wrong; he was definitely the oldest vampire I had ever met. Even older than Elizabeth. And therefore he definitely belonged to the family of vampires the rest of the world was most terrified of.

I knew that he had already noticed me although he hadn't looked at me. His eyes rested still on Beth and the clear interest that was written in his cold blue eyes disturbed me even more.

"Josef Kostan, I suppose," I could suddenly hear his impressively deep voice and he turned his face to me and made me stop. I was basically already close enough and it was just smarter to keep a safe distance when you meet an alien vampire.

His smile was admirably warm, given that he hardly knew me and had to feel my defensive behavior clearly, but it didn't reach his eyes. Beth, however, showed obviously that my presence took a load off her mind. She dared a little gasp of relief and took a cautious step backward, away from the stranger.

"And with whom do _I_ have the pleasure of speaking?" I asked without confirming the man's presumption.

His smile got a whole lot wider and his eyes flashed briefly before he moved to me with a feline lissomness which even among us vampires had no equal.

"Gabriel des Archanges," he smirked and offered me his hand which I accepted without hesitation.  
"Interesting name," I noted, smiling, although I knew his last name well and the discomfort in my chest grew once again. "Artistically changed or family property?"

My quick mind seemed to impress him because he raised his eyebrows barely noticeably and there was a hint of credit in his smile. "Both," he said, lifting his head a bit. He blinked with slightly narrowed eyes demonstratively into the sun. "For my own curiosity, do I need to brace myself for very great difficulties if I want to enter the house, or will we succeed in finding a compromise to escape the heat of the sun? Slowly but surely I become a little warm."

"Then you're not just passing through?" I probed with a friendly smile and dared to briefly eye him up again. Black was probably his favorite color for his pants and his silk shirt were kept in this cheerful note, however, tailored out of a very expensive material. The man had style.

"It all depends on which time frame one sets upon 'passing through'," he gave back just as friendly as I was.

I wanted to say something but rapidly approaching steps caused not only me to pause but also the stranger. My stomach did a nasty turn when I felt who was approaching us and I prayed that his appearance wouldn't cause the whole situation to escalate.

The young man who rounded the corner of the house stopped midway in his movements when he discovered the unannounced visitor and their eyes met. Gabriel's eyes lit up joyfully as if Mick was just the person he had waited for while Mick gave the impression that his emotions were fluctuating between shock and fascinated amazement. His eyebrows furrowed confused and he was not able to move for a long moment, until he finally noticed that Beth and the stranger were far too close to each other. He gave her a look that expressed clearly that she should come to him and she reacted immediately, rushed over to him and let him push her protectively behind his back.

"Mick St. John," Gabriel noted with another charming smile and to my concern turned to my best and now much too upset friend. Mick took a step backwards and pushed Beth even further out of the stranger's reach while the vampire eyed him up with increasing fascination. "August has told me so much about you but I couldn't really believe it. But now..." He shook his head with a little laugh while the mentioning of this name which was so familiar to me stung me slightly. "So human... so... alive."

"Yes, yes, very wonderful," I agreed with him before Mick could say anything and was immediately at Gabriel's side, forcing him to look at me and not hassle my friend further. "Perhaps we should go into the house to find out how we can help you, Gabriel." I paused again. Animal wheezing and further steps approached us. My goodness, this was becoming better and better...

It didn't take a full second before Alejandro and Manolo entered the stage with this wild beast of a dog pulling on his leash. The two men stopped for a heartbeat before Manolo frowned and with a quick movement took his gun from his shoulder and pointed it at Gabriel. Alejandro seemed to be of the opinion that his son had reacted in the right way because he made no effort to stop him but sparkled with the same aggressiveness as his offspring at Gabriel. Even monster raised his lip and growled menacingly.

Gabriel looked surprised but not alarmed. "I've expected as much," he said, smiling again, "but trigger-happy humans who defend vampires, this is really something new."

"It's all right, Manolo," Mick addressed the young Mexican and raised his hand in a soothing gesture but at the same time kept his eyes glued to the stranger. Manolo lowered his gun reluctantly but didn't put it away. He trusted Gabriel probably just as little as I did but to stop an escalation of the situation it was necessary that the two humans said goodbye as quickly as possible. In this respect I shared Mick's opinion. However, he also had other plans. I knew exactly what was coming when Mick turned to Beth, just as I knew he would bite on granite with her with this idea.

"Please go with Manolo to the main house," he said softly but the young woman shook her head even before he had finished his sentence. "Beth..."

"No!" she uttered softly, her eyes sparkling combatively.

"You promised you would do this," Mick hissed through gritted teeth.

"We talked about the meeting but not about one single foreign vampire!" she shot back immediately and Gabriel raised an eyebrow clearly amused while studying the two in their little struggle carefully. I did not like this.

"It won't stay at one," Mick growled back.

"Oh, for my part," Gabriel intervened with a soft voice, "I came alone. Besides, I'm not one of those vampires who don't know how to behave as a guest in a foreign house. I'm no danger to the humans."

Mick turned around to him with a dark expression and clearly twitching cheek muscles. Just the thought that the stranger might have intentions which threatened Beth's life made him angry.

"Alone, right?" he asked and looked at him briefly while I wondered if Mick in his human condition was able to realize what a powerful creature he was picking an argument with. At the moment he had to rely more on his mind than on his vampire senses. And if this worked so well when Beth was close and his protective instincts gained the upper hand was indeed questionable.

"Isn't that a bit risky?" Mick asked and took a step toward the smiling vampire. Yes, the guy _was_ taller than Mick, not by much, but it was enough to impress me.

Gabriel did not give the impression that he needed to think about Mick's question. "If that were so, would I be here?" he asked.

Mick frowned and tilted his head to one side. "I don't know," he pondered, "It depends upon the situation."

Gabriel chuckled, then nodded with a knowing smile and replied. "It most assuredly does."

"Speaking of which," I said quickly and was glad to tear Gabriel's attention away from Mick, "we all _most assuredly_ ought to get out of the sun. Perhaps we should sit down comfortably to discuss this further."

Gabriel looked up and blinked for a second time into the sun. Then he nodded to me while Mick's look told me that he would stay outside for a moment with Beth and the other two humans to clarify certain things. That was quite all right with me. Gabriel's extreme interest in Mick was too obvious to escape me and it was now clear to me that his appearance here most likely was closely linked to _Him,_ as his appearance was before all others, before the stipulated date and especially before we were properly prepared. As he followed me into the house, I wished with all my might that I was mistaken, that he didn't belong to the circle around_ Him,_ that he was not here because they had heard that the vampires in LA wanted to meet here today and that August wasn't such a cowardly traitor as I assumed.

I felt Gabriel staring at my back and turned a little to him as we continued our way toward the living room.

"So, August has been reporting to you regularly on Mick's progress?" I asked with interest while pretending that I still had no idea of all this. "May I ask you why you are interested?"

"But of course," Gabriel replied immediately. "August and I have been... _friends _for quite a while now_._" The accent on the word 'friends' told me that he used it as casually as I and not every one he called a friend was actually one. "And because I'm very interested in medicine and also August has worked for me for a certain time…"

"... he just _had_ to tell you about Mick," I continued his sentence and made a mental note that August's close doctor-friend was very likely no doctor at all. "Because he's _such_ an interesting case."

Gabriel laughed briefly but then quickly became serious again. He remained standing in the doorway of the living room which we had now reached and looked around briefly. I thought he would use Peterson's presence, as he no longer sat on the porch but on the couch and stared at our 'guest' with wide eyes and mouth open, to change the subject, but he didn't.  
"You know what, Josef, if we had more time I would be only _too_ happy to get involved in this game of small deceits, pun and repartee and hide my answers in small riddles only to find out how smart you are, but because time is running out and soon a lot of vampires will arrive here to get an idea of your friend, I will quite simply tell you why I'm here and what role August played in this whole thing."

His sudden openness not only surprised me but made me speechless and I had no choice but to nod silently to him that I shared his opinion.

"I will not pretend that I am mediocrity in our world. I know that you and probably most of the other vampires in this house as well, have already felt that I'm much older than the average vampire. So you certainly know as well, that I am from a family that is very powerful and has numerous connections into the last hidden corners of the world."

"And one of these connections is August," I concluded with a calmness I really admired myself for. "I see."

That made sense. Elizabeth had been right with her assumption that there had to be a spy in our house. In a quiet minute she had asked me how Lance had been able to find us and I hadn't been able to answer that question. Of course, I had had a suspicion but I hadn't been really sure until Beth had told me the story of August and I then had given him a good talking to. I had not gotten much out of him, certainly not much more than he had told Beth, but I had realized that he was the leak which could perhaps ultimately endanger our life and limb.

"So,_ He_ has sent you," I said and brought a smile back to Gabriel's face.

"No one can hide from _Him_ on a long-term basis," he replied gently, reminding me for a moment of a grinning shark, "or convene a meeting behind his back to keep _Him_ out of certain decisions."

"Why didn't _He_ send Lance?" Lance?" I was really interested in getting an answer to that question and I was glad when a slightly derogatory expression appeared on the face of my companion.

"Lance," he uttered as if he was talking about a person who wasn't to be taken seriously. "Lance has no idea that I'm here, nor does he know that there will be a meeting this evening. My contact men are much less conspicuous and more reliable than his and have provided over the past few weeks' information Lance can only dream of gathering."

"Seems as if _He_ is a person who prefers to play it safe," I said with clear credit in my voice.

"Well, someone who lives that long..." Gabriel decided to step further into the living room, looking around with interest.

"Am I right in assuming that you're much closer to _Him_ than Lance is?" I asked straight out. He had claimed to not want to play games anymore. I wanted to see how much one could believe his word.

Gabriel turned to me and uttered a small laugh. "Did Lance claim he's close to _Him_?"

"He didn't claim it, he rather implied it."

Gabriel's eyes sparkled with amusement but I didn't get a further response to my question. Instead, the tall man turned to our seating area. I knew exactly on whom he set his sight and followed him trying to look outwardly as relaxed as possible.

"When will _He_ show up here?" I asked. It was not only that I wanted to prevent Gabriel from taking the clearly frightened Peterson to task but I also wanted to get an answer to this question.

Gabriel turned his face towards me and eyed me up shortly. "Do you think _He_ would let it happen so easily that the Council meets here and gangs up against him? That the vampires from L.A. sit here alone and incite each other although they ought to abstain from doing that at all costs?"

"That means that _He _as well will arrive here yet today?" I stayed dogged.

The look and the smile Gabriel now met me with were strange. "But of course," he said very quietly and I could hear how Frank inhaled shocked.

"Whom will_ He_ bring along," bring with?" I asked. "Lance and the rest of the family?"

Gabriel went to the open door of the porch and sucked the fresh air deeply into his lungs. "No one if it's up to _Him_," he replied relaxed and looked at me when I approached him again with a rather strange feeling in my chest. "But sometimes things don't proceed as you wish them to. Let us be surprised."

"That means _He_ intends to come alone," I translated for myself. "Why?"

His bright eyes directed to the ground shortly before he looked at me again and this time indeed a little concern was shown in them. "Because the solution to our problem doesn't depend upon strength and power but on wisdom and empathy, on the right view and the right decision. And the general public doesn't tend to own these very often. A very wise woman once said: Great decisions are not always made by competent people." His gaze went back to the barren landscape outside the door. "But they should be," he added quietly. "_He_ will ensure that this time it will be that way!"

Slowly but surely I started to get nervous. "If _He_ will show up here anyway then why did _He_ sent _you_ here in advance?"

There it was again, this strange flash in his blue eyes followed immediately by that peculiar smile. An unpleasant tingling prickled down my back and caused my hackles to rise up again. Nevertheless, I became aware that another person entered the room, one I would rather not have brought back into our midst this soon. Mick's tense facial expression told me that he didn't get very far with his discussion with Beth. Only a second later, she pushed past him, walked to the seating area and pointedly sat down on one of the armchairs.

Mick gave her a dark look before he approached me, suspiciously examining Gabriel again. How much I wished in that moment that we would have already given him the syringe which strengthened his vampire side. Then he would also feel what was slowly dawning on me stronger and stronger.

My eyes flew over to Gabriel who looked at Mick yet again full of fascination. "If there wasn't this light scent... I would think you to be a human."

"Great, then we agree," Mick said with a fake smile and looked at me. "Have you been able to clarify what this is about?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"A little light comes slowly into the darkness," I replied evasively.

"Who sent him?"

Well, diplomacy was not always Mick's strength and certainly not when he was angry.  
"Was it this... this supreme vampire?"

Gabriel laughed and Mick gave him an angry glance.

"Sorry, but that's really a ... frugal title," Gabriel said, hardly able to hide his amusement.

"What should I call him then?" Mick asked irritated. "_The Ancient One_? _Prince of Darkness_?" He laughed mockingly. "_He_?"

"It's true... _He_ has got many names," Gabriel admitted graciously, "... had many names through the thousands of years ..."

"Thou... Thousands of years?" it came in a gasp from the couch and my scrutinizing look told me that this information caused Frank's pulse to beat at a rather unhealthy pace.

"This seems to be of greatest interest for you, professor," Gabriel said, showing once again how well he was informed about the people living here. "You could do a lot of things with his old blood, couldn't you?"

The slight hostility in his voice didn't escape me. This was one of the things I had been very worried about in advance: the reactions of the other vampires to a human who had conducted experiments with their comrades. I knew that this might cause problems right up to and including the darkest intentions of murder and I had already thought about how I could protect the professor the best.

"Okay, let us cut this short," Mick said impatiently and brought Gabriel's attention back to him. "Why exactly are you here? Beth told me outside that you are a friend of August's and are also a doctor. Do you want to look at me and then report your results to _Him_ or how did you imagine this would go?"

Gabriel did not answer immediately but first thought about Mick's words. Maybe he could not really cope with his directness. I had also had significant problems with that at the very beginning of our long friendship.

"I don't need to take a look at you and I'm even not a doctor," he said finally, which didn't really surprise me. Beth, however, had quite a shocked expression.

"Some of my concerns have been dispelled already. I have found neither a wild animal nor a mad and murderous hybrid between human and vampire here which really calms me deeply but doesn't diminish my fascination." His eyes wandered again over Mick's form and he smiled and shook his head. "I'm just wondering how this is possible... you... you're still really a vampire?"

Mick looked at me shortly but when I didn't make a move to intervene, he nodded. "At the moment and with limitations."

"What does that mean exactly?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"The fact that he has difficulty to transform into a vampire at the moment," Frank answered the question. "His condition currently wavers still too much between the one and the other extreme. But we can still fix that."

"What do you mean by 'extreme'? Can you no longer control yourself as a vampire?"  
This question had been bound to happen.

"He can do that very well," Beth interfered now bravely. "In any case, enough to not endanger anyone here."

He gave her a gentle smile which expressed clearly that he did not take her very seriously and then turned back to Mick. "Would this 'anyone' include me, too?" he probed.

"I don't know. What did August telltold you?"

I would have liked to strangle Mick for this provocative tone but Gabriel seemed to like it, for he laughed softly.

"Oh, he's a very factual doctor," he grinned. "He said you were on the right track but in some situations still quite unpredictable."

Okay, there was someone who deserved even more to be strangled by me. If I caught August sometime in a quiet minute alone I would show him at once the meaning of the word 'unpredictable'!

"Who's not?" I replied, before Mick could launch into a more provocative response. "The whole story is only half as dramatic as it was told to the Community." I paused for a moment, but I knew that I had to choose my next steps with care. First of all, I had to keep Gabriel from asking Mick to transform into a vampire in front of him even if that meant I had to offer him other internal information.

"You should see it for yourself and let August explain and show you the results of the last weeks downstairs with the help of the PC," I advised him and saw immediately that he liked the idea. "And if it's possible even before the others arrive here."

As if someone had called him August appeared just at that moment in the entrance of the living room. He looked harassed and nervous and got quite a bit paler when his gaze took in Gabriel. I had actually expected him to be relieved at his sight. But he wasn't. He almost seemed to feel more uncomfortable than the last time in _my_ presence and only bowed his head shortly in a greeting gesture and forced a cramped smile.

"I'm glad you're here," he said a little stiffly and Gabriel did not seem to want to make the effort to welcome him any warmer. A nod and a restrained smile was enough for him, too. Friends... okay ...

"You knew about this surprise visit?" I asked the doctor with a false smile.

August swallowed hard. "I... I ..."

"Well, where is this PC?" Gabriel intervened immediately and moved toward August not giving me a chance to grill him any further.

Too bad. That would have been such a fun right now. But, as is well known, forbearance was not acquittance. I would still get my chance.

"In the basement," I gave in for now and moved towards the corridor. "I'll show you."

Gabriel hesitated for a moment. His gaze rested again on Mick whose brow was immediately moving upwards in an asking way. "All right," the vampire said. "But then we both should absolutely talk a bit. Before the others arrive."

Mick nodded slightly to him. "It will be my pleasure..."

* * *

Beth knew that Mick wouldn't sit idly and wait until Gabriel came back. The tension under which he had stood since his appearance was so strong that it even seemed to spread to _her_ body. She somehow knew exactly what he felt. He was angry, agitated but above all terribly concerned and when his eyes wandered to Frank, she already had an idea what he would demand from the professor. The old man's eyes widened in shock.

"What? Right now?" He exclaimed in disbelief before Mick had even said anything and in that way proved that she had been right with her guess.

Mick did not respond to his question, but turned with a determined look in his eyes and rushed out of the living room. Beth jumped up quickly and ran after him fighting her discomfort with all her might. She knew Mick was mad at her because she had refused so vehemently to go with Manolo and Alejandro and that, in doing so, she had initiated the abrupt end of their unworldly cloud-seven-phase but that didn't have to mean that her influence on him was totally lost for now.

"Mick, wait!" she called after him and set an even faster speed. She could see how he tore open the door to the professor's room and uttered a silent curse. Steps behind her told her that the professor was at last on his feet, but he certainly was not fast enough to stop Mick. Beth rushed into the room at the very moment when Mick pulled open the drawer of the small cupboard next to Frank's bed and took out the bag with the syringes.

"You can't do this!" she uttered shocked and was with a few steps next to him, grabbed his wrist and was terribly frustrated when he was able to free his arm again effortlessly.

"I not only _can_ do this, I _need _to!" he said excitedly and turned away from her so that she had no chance to get at the bag. "Just leave, Beth!"

"But you can't dose this properly," she reminded him with desperation in her voice.

"But Frank can," he countered her immediately and indeed the professor now entered the room slightly out of breath.

"Mick, what... what's the point of that?" he gasped and held onto the door frame as he staggered a little. Such a sprint wasn't particularly healthy for a man in such a weak condition.

"I need my vampire senses!" Mick said out urgently. "If I had had them before I would have noticed much earlier that this guy was here! Then he wouldn't have been able to get so close to Beth!"

"He didn't do anything to me, Mick," Beth tried to calm him down.

"But he _could_ have... he..." Mick compressed his lips and stopped speaking. Instead, he lowered his gaze and shook his head. "Something is wrong with this man, I can even feel this as a human but only as a vampire do I have the chance to find out what he's hiding!"

"Isn't there still time?" Frank dared to ask. "Josef is here as well and he can..."

"No! There _is_ no time!" Mick glared angrily at the professor. "I won't repeat the mistake of staying human for too long. The last time it nearly cost Beth's life! I need the vampire inside me right now!" He opened the seal of the bag and rolled it out determined.

Beth stared at him in horror. The last days had awakened in her the illusion that Mick had succeeded in finding himself again. Now she was painfully aware that couldn't happen in less than two weeks, not after such a trauma. His posture, his nervous movements, the dangerous combination of anxiety, anger and worry in his eyes, they all meant that the meeting with Gabriel was causing Mick a lot of trouble, far more than they all had initially assumed. Human Mick had overreacted completely and was on the verge of losing his head and it was only_ one_ _single_ foreign vampire who had appeared. How would Mick the vampire behave if he transformed in this condition? Beth really had no desire to find it out.

"Which one is it?" Mick addressed his doctor who approached him cautiously his brows vigorously knitted together, letting his fingers glide over the various ampoules. "One of those with the blue rim, right?"

Peterson shook his head but Beth was sure that this was not the answer to Mick's question but only an expression of his protest regarding Mick's behavior. "That's really not a good idea, Mick," he said softly.

Mick threw back his head clearly stressed and closed his eyes briefly. It seemed to cost him quite a lot of strength not to go through the roof. After a short moment he looked at Frank again, fixedly and threateningly. "Which - one - is it?" he asked again, stressing each word.

"Mick," Beth now intervened again carefully, fighting down her own turmoil with all her might and gently putting a hand on his forearm. "Please... you need to calm down again."

He looked at her, impatient and desperate at the same time. "You don't understand ... I _must_ do this."

"I know," she replied calmly. "And I understand you completely."

Now confusion was also added to all his troubled feelings.

"Mick." She managed at least to turn the much taller and stronger man a little bit around to her, and in doing so forced him to completely concentrate on her. "Of course, you're right. You have to wake the vampire inside you again because Gabriel and the others who'll arrive later will demand that you transform in front of them. But if you do it in this condition, in this way, the whole thing will end up a disaster. Of that I'm sure. So... would you please try to calm yourself and sit down briefly so that we can discuss everything together calmly and think how to initiate the transformation?"

Mick avoided her gaze and took a deep breath but eventually he clenched his teeth and nodded half-heartedly. It took a load off her mind when he clearly reluctantly sat down with her on Frank's bed. The professor wasn't able to hide his relief in this situation and he heaved a deep sigh before he sat down on Mick's other side.

"Can... can I have this?" he asked after a few seconds of silence between them and shyly pointed to the syringe bag that Mick had rolled up in his hands again. Mick's gaze rested for a long moment on the essential utensil, then he reluctantly gave it back into the hands of its owner.

To Beth's surprise, Frank opened the bag immediately and had a long close look at all the vials. She hadn't feigned her understanding for Mick's behavior but a part of her had hoped to at least play for a little time and to prevent Mick becoming a vampire again so soon. She had not expected that Frank's assessment of the situation would be so close to Mick's.

"Judging by your last blood results the vampire in you doesn't feel as bad as I had thought yesterday," the Professor explained to Mick softly as he took out one of the bottles and began, under Beth's sorrowful gaze, to prepare the syringe. She in fact felt a strong urge to intervene again but she didn't dare to do so. She didn't want to put Mick at odds with her again. The last fight had been tough and unpleasant enough.

"Indeed he has withdrawn much," the Professor went on with his explanation, "but the proportion of your vampire hormones is high enough again to still call you a hybrid."

Beth raised her eyebrows in surprise, but said nothing. Mick hadn't given the impression last night that he had to struggle with himself to not let the vampire out. He had completely stayed in the human mode, even though he had not been entirely human. If that was not good news nothing was.

But Mick seemed not to be as receptive to the professor's positive words as she was. He still looked very impatient and worried although he was a little bit calmer than before.

"If this state will make a deliberate, controlled transformation by you possible, I don't know yet," the professor admitted reluctantly and now drew a very small quantity of the compound into his syringe. "That's the only reason why I'm ready to help and give you a drop. "And when I say a drop I mean a drop."

"But if it's not enough...," Mick began but the professor divested him of the rest of the sentence and formed it as he wanted.

"... I'll give you one more tiny amount. It will be enough for the transformation when it comes to that point."

Mick looked at him for a long moment while nervously biting his lower lip and then nodded at last. He willingly reached out his arm to the old man and Beth turned away from the two and looked over to the dirty window through which the dull light of the late afternoon sun was falling. It was not just that she was sensitive when it came to injections but she could not bring herself to watch the professor possibly destroying with one small injection the little bit of luck that had arrived for her and Mick over the last few days. It was not that she was afraid he could become a threat to her again because of his vampire side, because that fear was long gone for her, but she just knew that _he_ would change, that _he_ would lose his composure in dealing with her, that _he_ would become more timid, cautious and thoughtful again when he felt the animal inside him. He would again lose this exuberant, joyful side she had learned to love so much in the last hours, and this certainty made her sad and caused this painful knot in her intestines.

"Okay," she could hear the professor say after a little while. "It'll take a few minutes until it takes hold, but it should be enough."

Beth gritted her teeth, reminding herself not to show her feelings too clearly and then turned again to the two men. Mick was bending his arm, pressing the fingers of his other hand on the injection site and the professor was packing his things again.

"And promise me one thing, Mick," the old man began to talk once more and Mick looked up. "Don't try again to use this compound by yourself. It's not only dangerous but we simply have too little of it to be lavish with it. The less you need it, the better it is."

Mick nodded again. Now that his feelings no longer boiled over, he was also able to show more insight.

The professor took a deep breath. "Would you two leave me alone for a little while, please?" he said. "I think it's better if I get a little rest yet. This Gabriel will certainly want to talk with me, too."

Beth got up immediately and Mick followed her. He went instantly towards the door and disappeared into the hallway. She stopped at the door and cast another glance at the professor who just put the bag back into the drawer. When he felt her gaze, he turned to her with a small, weary smile on his pale face.

"All will be well," he said confidently. "The dosage is indeed very mild."

Beth smiled back at him. "I'm not worried about Mick, Frank. You, however, still don't look that well."

He laughed quietly, slipped out of his shoes and then stretched out on his bed. "I'm just old. That's all," he said and winked at her.

Beth didn't know what to say to that. Her smile got a trace warmer then she stepped out of his room and closed the door behind her. She sighed gloomily and winced violently when she heard a voice close behind her.

"He's suffering from an age-related Hypotension for years now. This is not dramatic."

Beth turned to the owner of this admittedly incredibly beautiful voice, trying not to let him know how much he had frightened her. She just raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Hypotension?"

"Too low blood pressure," he replied, and Beth was able to remember that he had said something similar yesterday. "The additional sun-stroke did not do him much good. But he's okay."

Beth nodded and tried with all her might not to ask any of the questions which swirled in her mind, like, 'How do you feel?', 'Do you already feel a change?' or 'Will you now behave completely different towards me again?' But these questions were so dominant that they completely blocked her thinking. So she just stood in front of Mick looking at him with wide eyes and was as mute as a fish. This unintentionally gave him enough time to return to the topic that currently burdened him the most.

"Beth, you..." He looked past her, searching for the right words. "Can we talk again about the thing with the vampire meeting?"

"Sure," she replied and showed him her adverse posture by turning away from him and going back down the hall towards the living room. Of course, Mick followed her immediately, his light tension and anger from earlier in tow.

"Why can't I get rid of the feeling that you, no matter what you promised, are going to do only what _you_ want anyway?" he asked vexed.

She shook her head annoyed and did not even bother to look at him. "Because you don't listen to me!"

She heard an angry laugh. "Oh, no, I do and not just with my ears. And your whole body says only one thing: I don't let anybody patronize me and only push through with my own stubborn head."

They had now reached the living room and Beth turned on her heel, put her hands on her hips and glared angrily at Mick.

"Do not act as if I've never cooperated," she growled. "For I have done this often enough since we've known each other. And I would never put my will above yours unless it's absolutely necessary and I just _know_ that it's the right thing to do!"

"That means, if you think that in this case your presence is needed..."

She didn't even let him finish his sentence. "I've already said that I will go when the meeting begins, Mick! I promised it and I will keep my promise!"

Mick's eyes were on her face and his cheek muscles twitched with tension. She could feel that he didn't exactly believe her. She could not blame him. She didn't even trust herself in this respect.

"And if that's not soon enough?" he asked trying hard to control himself and brought them back to the topic they had already discussed in front of the house. Mick had accused her there of not abiding by their agreement. In the end she had only been able to beat him with the argument that Gabriel had come alone and certainly _one_ vampire didn't represent a meeting.

"Josef has already turned on the monitoring system," she tried to soothe him. "We won't miss it if someone approaches our house."

"So, are _two_ or _three_ other vampires sufficient to represent a meeting in your eyes?" he asked with sarcasm in his voice and a little smile appeared on Beth's lips because he knew her so well. It was hard for her but for she knew that behind Mick's excessive caution was just a huge worry for her safety she finally nodded. The wave of relief that Beth's reaction brought allowed Mick's anger to disappear into thin air and his tension to almost entirely leave his limbs. He took a step toward her and to her surprise pulled her into his arms. Beth felt like an addict, one little contact with his body and again all the problems were forgotten. Instinctively she put her arms around his waist, pressed her face into his chest and closed her eyes taking in a deep drag of his scent. She knew that he did the same when she felt his chest widen under her arms and then felt his warm breath blow over her neck causing this wonderful tingling on her skin.

"I hate to argue with you," she heard him whisper into her hair close to her ear and clung more closely to him, wanting to show him that she felt the very same way. Less than an hour ago everything had still been so beautiful and she really had no desire to give up on her fortune so quickly. Only fate had shown her just in the past year how little it sometimes acted on her wishes and how cruel it could be. Her gut told her that Gabriel's surprising appearance was a grim harbinger, a herald, who whispered that once again things would turn out very differently than they had planned. She would have to be strong, would have to fight if she wanted to keep what she was holding in her arms...


	54. Les Archanges

_*__A great Sunday to all of you! It's raining outside in Berlin but I'm still in a good mood. Hope you are, too. And if not, maybe my new chapter can change this ;o). Thanks a lot for your feedback again. I love to read that you're eagerly waiting what will happen next and I promise the next four chapters will be very exciting. Hope you'll like it and see you at Thursday again. Best wishes, Jenna*_

_P.S.: SG6169, a big hug to you for your great beta-reading!_

* * *

**L****es Archanges**

* * *

"_What you can not defeat that try to seize. Make your opponent your friend, convert your enemy to your column." _

_Dr. Carl Peter Froehling_

* * *

The shock of Gabriel's appearance in Logan's basement nearly knocked him out of his chair. It was not just the appearance of another vampire in his basement that was unusual, but that any reasonably talented vampire _had_ to feel that a person whose age, experience and power that no one could oppose, stood before him.

Only the edge of the table, which his fingers now closed around, kept Logan from falling out of the less than sturdy chair, preventing total embarrassment. Once he had returned himself to a somewhat upright position and met my calming gaze, was he then able to digest my brief information and do what I had asked him to do.

August and Frank had, from the beginning of our stay, along with Logan's help, started a file, documenting everything pertaining to Mick's development so far. Since I knew that August had previously had unguarded access to the file, I was sure that Gabriel was familiar with much of its contents and suspected that he would not need to take up much of his time with it. But this was not the case. After requesting to sit in Logan's chair - Logan immediately jumped up and sought shelter at my side - he quickly skimmed over the documentation of Mick's first few days, but then studied the notes from the beginning of last week in-depth.

For a while I stayed behind him, avoiding Logan's questioning and almost frightened glances again and again. It was so much more fun to stare a hole into the back of August's neck, who was standing meekly beside Gabriel, for I knew quite well that he could feel it and that he felt anything but well. When this became boring after a few minutes, I decided to once again take a closer look at Gabriel. He was too distracted to notice – or so I hoped.

Apart from the mysterious aura that surrounded him, he actually looked like a normal person, who was slowly but surely heading into his forties. Of course... he was still very tall and athletically built, but his appearance had no other specific abnormalities, except for maybe those light blue eyes that gave you the feeling they could look into the bottom of your soul. And yet... Gabriel radiated something I just couldn't put into words, something strange and somehow frightening. It was weird to have a vampire this old in front of me and to try and imagine the things he may have experienced in his long life, what historical events he may have taken part in. I myself was proud of the history _I_ had experienced but... in his case, this took on an entirely different dimension.

And then there was this strange feeling of familiarity that had slowly become apparent, that grew stronger and stronger as I spent more time near this man. I was sure I had never seen him before in my life and I could usually count, one hundred percent, on my memory. The more I thought about it, a more and more pressing question came to my mind: Who was this man? For it was only by this question we could find out what role he would play in our uncertain future.

My suspicion was, that behind the facade of the indeed mighty but friendly envoy of the last Ancient One, hid in reality the Ancient One himself, but this had neither been confirmed during the last minutes nor denied, because Gabriel was too careful and evasive with his statements. The only thing clear to me was, that he was part of the inner most circle around _Him_. His sudden appearance and his self-confidence could not be explained any other way. And his name... only a few still living vampires were allowed to bear the name _des Archanges_ - and if I remembered correctly, Elizabeth had told me there were just four vampires, including _Him_, who enjoyed this privilege. In addition, each of them carried at the moment the name of one of the archangels, but which one _He_ had assumed, Elizabeth couldn't say for sure. Quite apart from the fact that they each changed their names frequently because _He_ didn't want to be recognized. The Archangel-name had come back into fashion only last year.

What had been of great interest to me, in my conversation with Elizabeth, was the fact that _He_ was not the cruel and oppressive tyrant that rumors would have. He also seemed to mostly go along with the agreements and voting within the Council of the European vampires and was more than happy to put a great deal of the responsibility back into the hands of others – of course always with the restriction that _He,_ in special cases, had the last word. This also explained the dominant position Lance held within the vampire community. He was a vampire who loved to take over responsibility, to look after many things in Europe, because it allowed him to wield the scepter of power and to put himself above others, even if this wasn't really entitled to him. And because _He_, in recent decades, for whatever reason, had been silent...

However it was - Gabriel's own statements fit with the information I had received from Elizabeth. And even though I had imagined _Him_ earlier as a much older and somber person, his current appearance, demeanor and charisma fit quite well with the new image that was slowly forming in my head. But I wasn't convinced about this yet. Even a Josef Kostan could be mistaken. Life had shown me this on several occasions.

After awhile - it had probably been about two hours since anything had really happened other than Gabriel reading and asking August a few questions every now and then, which he answered as detailed and exact as he could – I heard the old vampire inhale deeply, causing me to abruptly sit up straight in the chair I'd previously been slumped down in for the last few minutes. Gabriel stood up in one fluid movement and turned to me. He gave a deeply pensive expression I didn't know what to make of. Was this a good or a bad sign?

"You all seem to have been quite busy," he noted, and ran a hand over his neck, as if to loosen a tension there. "Do you really think that all this stress, strain, and inconvenience will be worth it at some point, Josef?"

The personal tone he suddenly adopted, took me by surprise, but I tried not to show it outwardly. "It already has..." I answered without even having to think about the question, "with each small step forward."

The corners of Gabriel's mouth lifted into a melancholy smile. "Small step forward...," he repeated the last words of my sentence, as if he had to check first if this were true. "Yes, it does indeed move forward. And this progress would certainly continue if we had a little more time..."

"We'll see," I replied and was not able to prevent the tension from building in my body again.

For far too long Gabriel looked at me in silence. What I wouldn't give to be able to read his mind...

"Do you even know what you've got here?" he asked finally. "Do you know what this man is worth even though the whole experiment was only half a success? Not only for the Legion, but also for medicine and for many vampires...?"

Now _I_ was the one who had to take a deep breath. I too had already thought about this, but had pushed those thoughts away, because Mick's well-being had been my first priority. Why should I care what the rest of the world needed when my only interest was to save my best friend and help him find his way back to his old life? The fact that this might not be possible anymore – I just didn't want to think about it.

"So far there are only a few people who know exactly what's going on with Mick," I replied firmly, "if it stays that way, nobody interested will become seriously concerned about him."

To my surprise, the corners of Gabriel's mouth lifted a little more. "Good then, in this respect we already see eye to eye."

My confusion probably showed a little too clearly on my face, because my opponent let out a chuckle and stepped closer to me. Fine lines had formed around his eyes - proof that there were still a few things in his life that he was able to smile about.

"There are some wild rumors circulating about Mick - and that's a good thing," he told me graciously. "The more fantastic they are, the better. These rumors scare people and if they fear you and are not able to determine exactly what skills you possess, they will keep a respectful distance from you. The more the truth is revealed, the more vulnerable Mick will become. It's bad enough the Legion is after him – he doesn't need a dozen or so vampires, trying to make a profit for themselves, after him also."

My eyebrows automatically moved towards each other. "What exactly do you mean by that, Gabriel?"

"It's important that you understand, the people you want to confide in, must be considered carefully," he replied calmly. "Let's not bring too many people to the meeting. If you can uninvite some without provoking a bigger conflict..."

"But doing that I run the risk of being outnumbered by _Him_ and his men," I expressed my concerns and paid close attention to any suspicious stir in his face. "I would no longer be able to protect Mick if that becomes necessary..."

"And who are you trying to protect him from?"

I didn't answer him, only raised an eyebrow and let the silence speak for me. Even Logan seemed to be aware of the fact that the vampire in our midst was to be handled with care and that it would be better for him to behave as inconspicuously as possible. But I could also sense that he was afraid.

"I told you before that Mick is in far less danger from _Him_ than from all the other excited vampires in this country," Gabriel said after a little while.

"This may be true," I relented, "but I only have _your_ word to go by. The questions I really have to ask are: What value does _your_ word have in relations to all the problems coming our way? And what role do you play here?" Actually I wanted to ask: 'Are you _He_ or do you just represent him?' But this would have been... awkward.

Nevertheless, Gabriel understood me and countered my questions with a gentle smile. "I don't think it would be too presumptuous, if I claim to be allowed to speak and act in_ His_ name."

"Probably only until_ He_ himself arrives here," I added smiling back at him likewise, not ready to believe his statement and I could see the corners of his mouth lift even further.

"Of course," he replied, now grinning more than smiling and caused with this reaction another twist in my intestines. Sometimes it was painful to be right in one's assumptions...

"Does this also mean then that you are authorized to enlighten us about the plans _He_ has in relation to Mick and the Legion?" I still asked bravely.

Gabriel's ice-blue eyes roamed briefly through the room, as if he had to think seriously about my question, before returning to my face.

"I think so," he replied, "but maybe we should summon all the others in this house, so I don't need to constantly repeat myself in the course of this slowly declining day."

"Not a problem," I replied and looked at Logan. "Can you wake Seth and Hendrik?"

You could tell Logan wasn't sure if my question was serious or not and I had to repeatedly nod encouragingly to him, before he began to move. It took quite a bit of effort to bring in Lance' lackey, but to see his reaction to Gabriel's identity could become very revealing. It was quite possible that Hendrik had had not only telephone contact with _Him_, but had probably met _Him_ in person as well. Maybe his reaction would tell me if I had already welcomed the most dangerous vampire in the world to our hiding place with open arms without really knowing it, or if I still had a little time to prepare for_ His_ arrival.

Gabriel showed no reaction to the mention of Hendrik's name. I knew myself the advantages a long life and ones experiences could provide, when it came to camouflaging one's feelings, so this didn't mean a thing. But an idiot like Hendrik would have a hard time pretending.

The question of where we were to gather, I didn't need to ask, because Gabriel went without another word to the open door of the cellar, to the stairs, and August and I followed him immediately.

* * *

Beth tried not to worry - she really did. But the fears she had been able to suppress over and over again, had now resurfaced with the appearance of the alien vampire and Mick's restlessness, which had not disappeared with the injection. She knew she would need to appear calm and confident if Mick was going to survive the vampire meetings physically and emotionally unscathed.

Mick now walked back and forth from the porch door to the hall, repeatedly running a hand through his short, dark hair and peered in the direction Josef had disappeared to with their unannounced guest a while ago. At first he had been fairly calm. But because the disappearance of the others seemed to go on and on, Beth wasn't the only one who had started to worry again. Thoughts connected to the huge concerns had driven Mick to pace the living room to try and relieve some of his tension.

Beth had seen him stressed out like this once before. It was when Lee Jay had threatened his existence. His only options at that time had been to escape, or to stay in this environment and run the risk of losing his life. If Beth was correct, the current situation was not much different. Someone else wanted to control his life, decide his future and it left him little choice in self-determination. Considering he had already been subjected to the whim of others for over a year and had endured unimaginable horrors, he still held it together pretty well. Nonetheless, whenever he passed her, Beth felt the tremendous need to stop him, to wrap him in her arms and comfort him, to show him that he was not alone in this precarious situation. The only thing holding her back now was the feeling she'd had for the last few minutes that something had somehow changed in him. His movements became smoother and more controlled, his breathing, despite the strain he was under, got quieter and the color of his eyes brighter. The vampire within him had come to life again, to prepare him for his part in the new situation. It became a totally bad idea now, to freely offer, through her need to embrace him, her carotid artery. It had been long time since Mick had ingested blood and he would certainly thirst for it soon, no matter how human he still was at the moment. So she held back - with effort, but she succeeded.

"How much more time do they need?" it finally burst out of him when he once again stopped beside her. His nerves were contagious; this anxious prickle had also developed in her. Beth shrugged her shoulders helplessly and stood up a bit more, because the edge of the dresser she had been leaning against for some time, pushed painfully into her hip.

There it was, the quick glance at her neck, and the twitching of his cheek muscles, right before he started to move again, continuing his rounds through the living room. It was time he drank some blood. Beth was now trying to come up with a clever way to make him get one of the units of blood from the fridge, before the vampire in him started to become really nervous. She didn't want to offend him, or make him think she was afraid he might bite her, because she wasn't. Actually, this last thought had even developed a certain charm for her, one she hadn't figured out yet. She only knew that if Mick caught on to her, he would be terribly upset and would in all probability, adamantly reject the idea of drinking her blood instead of the stored one and so she kept these thoughts to herself. Not to mention that it was completely crazy to suggest such an idea without first knowing exactly how the vampire in him was at the moment.

Steps from the corridor caught both her and Mick's attention and they held their breath while listening carefully. But it was only Peterson, who staggered with eyes swollen from sleep and tousled hair, into the living room. When he met Mick's gaze, he paused and eyed him up from top to bottom.

"How are you doing?" he voiced one of the many questions that had already been burning on Beth's tongue. Mick just shrugged his shoulders sullenly. Frank stepped closer to him, studying him with his eyes, then nodded.

"You should get some blood in you... now," he stressed and with that Mick angrily turned away from him.

"I'm not thirsty," he growled, paused beside Beth and crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest. That was simply a lie. Mick's glance in her direction had just been too conspicuous.

"This makes no difference," the professor stayed on him and went to the kitchen to open the fridge. "You'll have considerable problems if you don't take care of your vampire side properly before the other vampires show up here. The hunger will come and will cost you in additional nerves. And if you _bite_ one of them..."

Mick's unnerving groan stopped Frank from continuing. "_Okay_," he growled, and with a few large steps was at the old man's side, tore the bag of blood from his hands and gave him a dark look.

"Beth...," the professor turned to her, "Among my things, in the top drawer of my dresser, there are some larger needles and syringes..." Beth immediately followed his instructions and nodded, even before he had finished his sentence. She took one of the needles from the packaging, grabbed a syringe and returned immediately to both waiting men. Beth could see how upsetting this whole thing was for Mick, how hard it must be, especially after enjoying such a short time as a human, getting used to the idea of being a hybrid again, who would still have to dependent on other people's blood. She wanted to give him a few comforting words but he was avoiding her gaze. Without a word, he took the utensils from her hands and then sat down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

"Can ... can I help you somehow?" she still asked, a little unsettled.

Mick shook his head and Frank did not dare approach him. Actually, there was no reason to approach him because Mick had so often injected himself with blood intravenously over his life, that there was no need for assistance. Beth turned away from him as he drew up the large syringe and sought Frank's gaze.

"How are _you_ doing?" she asked when she had his attention.

"Well... better." He smiled. "It was just all the stress and the sun... and of course my not particularly well-functioning circulation..."

"I've been worried that maybe you were concealing an illness from us," Beth confessed openly. The professor gave a not very convincing laugh.

"No... I..." He tried to gather his thoughts a moment. "It's nothing serious. And I'm the only one to blame for it..."

Beth frowned. How could anyone's circulatory problems or low blood pressure be _their _fault? She didn't get the chance to ask the question aloud, because the creaking of the stairs from the basement announced that Josef's small meeting with Gabriel had probably, finally, come to an end, and caused Beth's heartbeat to accelerate immediately. She felt as uneasy about the foreign vampire as she did about Mick's current state and not knowing what he had planned, wore on her nerves.

Gabriel was the first one to walk into the living room, followed closely by Josef and August. He looked pensive on first impression, then stopped abruptly and looked over at Beth. No, not at her... his eyes went past her shoulder...

Beth nearly flinched when she discovered that Mick was standing behind her again and answered Gabriel's look with an intensity that made her believe that he would rush at any moment to attack him. Yet, there was something else written in his eyes, something that confused her: Fascination and... knowledge. The same emotions that seemed to be reflect in the eyes of his opposite.

Gabriel's lips formed a small smile. "That's better," he remarked quietly. "Now, it's much clearer ..."

"Is it?" Mick replied now also smiling, while Beth's troubled gaze flew to kitchen table. The syringe was empty, but the blood bag was still at least half-full. That couldn't be enough...

Gabriel answered his question with another mysterious smile, then turned away from him and walked farther into the living room.

Josef, who had been unusually quiet in the last few minutes, moved closer to them. Anxious wrinkles had formed on his usually smooth forehead. "Have _you _done something?" he turned to the nervous professor, nodding towards Mick, whose gaze was still fixed on Gabriel. This had caused an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of Beth's stomach. Something was not right here...

"I thought... I thought, now would be the best time for it," Frank defended himself before Josef. "Before the others come and then he has no more time to get used to his vampire side again..."

Josef looked at Mick for a long time and then inhaled deeply before he dared appeal to him. "Gabriel now knows everything, what he wanted to know and perhaps _should_..."

Mick did not break eye contact with the older vampire, but at least responded to Josef's words. "How nice," he replied in a clearly sarcastic undertone. "Maybe now comes the part where _we_ learn, what _we _should know..."

His words were so clearly directed to Gabriel that he could not ignore him.

"What do you _want_ to know then?" he promptly asked in return still not breaking eye contact even when Seth, Logan and Hendrik now entered the room. The three immediately stopped dead in their tracks, Seth and Logan more out of respect for Gabriel but Hendrik probablybecause the sight of this vampire was quite familiar to him and it surprised him so much that all he was capable of doing was to open his mouth and drop his jaw in astonishment. Mick decided to have a direct conversation. He pushed past Beth and approached Gabriel completely unimpressed. "I would first like to know exactly what your job is, and what your plans are once you get the information you need?"

"Although at first, it may be hard to imagine, I'm not planning anything at all," answered the addressed person, and now also took a step closer, demonstrating that he too had no fear of contact with him. Beth and Josef, however, did not like this at all. Almost at the same time they moved closer to both, ready to intervene if the situation escalated.

A faint laugh slipped from Mick's lips and he finally stopped only a few inches from Gabriel and provokingly crossed his arms over his chest. "And why should I believe you?"

From somewhere an indignant gasp was heard, while Gabriel really seemed to think about this question, shaking his head over it. "I can hardly ask you to. I won't pretend that I haven't worried about what's going to happen here in the next few hours, because that would be a lie. But I _am_ a person who's willing to listen to the ideas and thoughts of others and certainly able to adopt and implement them if they're well thought out and justified. I will not be making any decisions alone..."

Beth paused at these words. Where did this vampire get the idea that he had so much power in this matter? Where, except if he was... She didn't dare to finish the thought. It was just too scary.

"No, you definitely won't," Josef intervened now with a cool smile and stepped up beside Mick. "No one needs to do anything here _on their own_..."

Beth gasped. What the hell was going on here? A threatening tone had clearly developed in this seemingly innocuous conversation. Hendrik and August apparently felt this too, because they were now approaching with incredulous faces, while Logan and Seth still kept a respectful distance.

"That would be unhealthy," Gabriel replied unusually calm. "In this situation, with this dangerous organization at our throats, it would be extremely unwise for anyone to try anything on your own. And you should urgently think about leaving here once the meeting has been held."

"Because what happens then?" Mick asked warily.

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, more than likely, armed Special Forces of the Legion will show up here within hours and either kill everyone or try, in a not so friendly way, to take what they have been looking for so desperately for a while. That will depend on which side of the Legion shows up first..."

"Is that a threat?" Mick got to the heart of Beth's own feeling.

"No. Absolutely not." It was weird, but for some reason Beth believed the old vampire. There was something in his eyes that told her he meant his words seriously. "It's an honest warning, which is based on well-founded concerns. I know from reliable sources that within the LA vampire community there are a few leaks. Your location will become known once the other vampires return to the city with this information, and you will no longer be safe here."

"What do you suggest, we do?" Josef asked and now surprised Beth with his confidence in the older vampire. From the corner of her eye she perceived that Hendrik gasped for air, outraged.

"Well, I think that will depend first and foremost on how the meeting goes, what the community will decide," Gabriel gave way a little. "But I could at least help you find a new, safe hiding place."

"And what exactly do you want in return for this help?" Josef probed.

The smile that flitted over Gabriel's face, Beth could foresee nothing good. It was so mischievous, almost provoking.

"Nothing earth-shattering..." Now it was almost a grin. "I would like only to take Mick with me for a few weeks..."

For a moment Beth lost the ability to breathe, the old vampire's remark had shocked her too much, while Mick thoughtfully tilted his head a bit and contracted his brows. If this remark had upset him, he didn't show it outwardly at least.

"Would you?" he asked. "Is there a particular reason for this?"

Gabriel was still smiling, but his eyes, however, took on a rather serious expression. "You should spend a little time with _Him_," he said. "There are a lot of things you should exchange about yourselves - but only in private..."

"We can do that here," Mick, voiced Beth's thoughts exactly, while she fought the hysteria that was now building in her. Josef and Elizabeth's suspicions had been right. The guy wanted to take Mick away...away from her... She couldn't allow this under any circumstances!

"It would take too long," Gabriel replied. "The Legion has not left us that much time."

"What makes you so sure about that?"

"Our common history."

Mick furrowed his brows thoughtfully. "The Legion and you - you have a _common_ history?"

"I am very old, Mick," Gabriel said, smiling gently. "I've had over the centuries some very intense meetings with this organization, which has revealed a lot to me about them. And I know the stories about the beginnings of the Legion, first hand. I know how this organization thinks, acts and feels, and how to handle a threat like this. I know how to fight them and still survive. I know how everything began and have a pretty good guess as to how it will all end..."

"Fine," Mick replied. "If you can draw from such a wealth of experiences, do you also know the best way to fight the Legion? From our position?"

"Perhaps," Gabriel said quietly. "I know, at least, that the Legion has weaknesses, has always had them, that they _can_ be pressured and there is at least one person in this world that most members of that organization truly fear."

"You mean _Him_," Mick concluded from the older one's words. "Why? Why do they fear him so much? What exactly has happened between _Him_ and the Legion?"

Gabriel looked at him for a while in silence, occupied in his thoughts, then he nodded halting. "Maybe you're right." He briefly looked around the small circle that had closed around him. "Maybe you _should_ know this. Maybe this will make it easier for all of us to work together..."

He took a deep breath, then to Beth's surprise, turned away from all of them and walked over to the door of the veranda through which the golden rays of the now slowly setting sun were falling.

"People were superstitious from time immemorial and have always isolated, hunted and tried to kill us," he began, looking into the distance. "But there was a time when things became even worse because the church then stepped up behind these people, commissioned them to prey on demons, ghosts, witches and sorcerers. Since there were no such mystical creatures many innocent people had to endure great suffering and ultimately burn at the stake. But you already know these stories." He now turned around to face them and approached again. "The _Legion_ has its origins in this time and has_ not_ existed as long as vampires have. This also is a persistent rumor. Of course, there have always been people from time to time who have successfully opposed the bloodlust of some degenerate vampires, but in such an organized way, they've only fought against us since the twelfth century. It all began in a small French village called Pont-Arcy, which was fleeced by a rich, sun-shy count, not only financially. A young man named Bernard Gaulliaume found out that the count was no ordinary man and joined forces with six other brave young men to end the rule of the count, by then titled _The Demon_. Two of his comrades lost their lives then, but surprisingly, they succeeded in their plan. The men were celebrated as heroes in their village and decided to go in search of other such demons and free the world from the influence of the devil. They gave themselves the name _Les Archanges_ - TheArchangels, found out about creatures of the night, and began to recruit more men from surrounding villages for their plans. The church soon heard of them and since they were already paying people to rid them of demonic beings and other creatures, their group also received the financial support they needed to better organize and train soldiers." Gabriel stopped for a deliberate break and obviously enjoyed the tense silence around him. Each of them was so fascinated with what they heard that they did not dare interrupt him with unnecessary questions.

"The Vampire Community in France had never seen such a thing before and were so shocked at first, they were totally incapable of acting. Because of this many vampires lost their lives. Through the spreading success of this group, the first subsidiary organizations were formed in other countries and emulated their French models. There were, at this time, still a few ancient vampires, more than today, but only one of them saw it as his duty to intervene in this action and to protect the vampire world with its mysteries. He was looking specifically for the original founders of this organization; he found and killed all but one. And to send a message to all other human subsidiary organizations, he sent the head of each of the men he had killed and signed his messages with the name _Michel Araboth des Archanges_."

"Michael Araboth - the first Archangel," Josef added softly and even he was no longer able to hide how impressed he was. The story he had heard had been similar to this one, but not in such precise detail. "An interesting and provocative maneuver. His color is red and in addition to the creation of fire and heat, according to Christian belief, he gives the blood its quality."

"That's true," Logan exclaimed, who had been totally captivated. "I too have heard something like this!"

Gabriel smiled in a peculiar way, which always sent unpleasant shivers down Beth's spine.

"The gratitude of the other vampires for the things he did, was limited," he went on. "Very few sought contact with Michel, as he called himself for awhile, to join him. There were three older vampires, to be exact, and they also took the names of the archangels and entered into an informal alliance appearing for the first time as the _des Archanges _family. For a time, they made it their business to keep an eye on the remaining vampire-hating people. Some of the other vampires, however, were of the opinion that the four only wanted to position themselves by their union and their self-imposed task, above all others, that they wanted to seize the power over the world. But they dared not speak their allegations in public. It was quiet in our world for a while, until an assassin succeeded, by betrayal in our own ranks, in killing two of the family members. The other two escaped by only the skin of their teeth and Michel disappeared completely, out of disappointment for the lack of cohesion among the vampires. This left the almost non-existent vampire community alone with the reinvigorating organization against vampires, which from this moment on called itself _the Legion,_ and in doing so instigated the first vampire-apocalypse. The Legion succeeded within months, in several countries, to raise a large part of the rural population against the vampires and to organize a hunt that was so cruel and thorough, that the fleeing vampires turned in fear once again to Michel, begging him to help them. Even though he was furious with them, he felt after awhile obligated to come to his brothers and sisters aid again. He took the name _Nefario_, _the Godless_, and within a few days, raised a vampire army which managed to inflict such damage on the Legion that they were forced to withdraw and hide again to keep from being wiped out completely. After this victory, _Nefario_ had a reputation no one would challenge. The Legend of the superior _Ancient One_ was born. He soon took back the name of an archangel and all vampires taken into the inner circle around _Him_ assumed the last name _des Archanges_. It was at this time that assumptions first arose, that these vampires were the fallen angels who walked the earth as blood-sucking monsters for punishment."

"Elizabeth told me that the Legion would gain strength over and over again and the heavy battles and high losses continued on both sides...," Josef interjected. "that this could only be stopped by a contract, that until now, was known and accessible to only a few vampires from our community."

Gabriel's smile, that Beth found so unpleasant, was back again. "So Elizabeth has talked with you about the contract..."

"Does this mean it really exists?" Mick concluded from his words and made Gabriel turn to him again.

"The contract was signed on 22 September 1799 at a castle in Scotland." Gabriel surprisingly admitted. "It was negotiated between the former leaders of the Legion, _Him_ and three other more powerful vampires and actually served only to protect both parties from unwarranted attacks and the restoration of peace."

"Why did the Legion agree to it at the time?" Mick asked. "What persuaded their leaders to negotiate?"

"Fear and need. They had lost a lot of people and knew that it was entirely possible that the two sides would just destroy each other and in the end there would be no winner, only losers. We had their backs against the wall, but could not destroy them completely because there were too many cells around the world, from which the seeds of evil could crawl out again. To negotiate a contract, to set up rules for a future life together, was the only reasonable thought."

"Well...," Mick tried to advance the conversation further, "the Legion doesn't seem to be adhering to the contract anymore and has returned to their old ways - namely, to destroy all vampires..."

"A significant part of them - yes," Gabriel had to admit.

"And, because it's just as difficult today as it was back then to destroy the Legion completely...," Mick began.

"...we must somehow get them to sit down with us again at the negotiating table," Gabriel finished his sentence with a smile and confirmed once again that Elizabeth and Josef had been correct in their forewarnings. "Exactly!"

"The question is, how do we do this?" added Josef and Beth could do nothing but to blink, confused. The change from 'We hate each other's guts' to 'We'll work hand in hand' was so quick and unobtrusively, that she could no longer comprehend it. Vampires were really strange creatures...

"Well, there are several possibilities, which...," Gabriel paused so suddenly in his speech and turned his head to the porch door with such a concentrated expression on his face, that it caused a small jump in Beth's heart rate. That could only mean something bad.

"We have visitors," it slipped softly from his lips and he closed his eyes to be able to concentrate even more. The fact that even Josef and the other vampires gave a surprised impression convinced Beth that Gabriel had much more sensitive and more impressive senses than any other in this room.

Only seconds later, Josef nodded anxiously. "Helicopters. More than one."

"The Legion?" it burst out of Beth immediately and her heart throbbed so violently against her ribs that it almost hurt.

It was Gabriel, who responded to her question, though he still kept his eyes closed. "No, vampires." His eyelids lifted, and he turned to them. "It's Elizabeth... and Lance."


	55. About friends and foes

_*__Hello my dear readers. Here's the new chapter and – don't kill me – there's again a cliffhanger at the end… *Scratches her temple* Actually all of the following chapters have cliffhangers… But let's see, maybe your feedback is helping me to quicken my updating-pace. Loved your last reviews so much and they're so motivating. Hugs for all of you! And a fat one for SG6169 for the beta-reading and for Cleo for the great translation! See you all at Sunday again! Best wishes, Jenna*_

* * *

**A****bout friends and foes **

I had had this unpleasant experience during my long life a couple of times: where a situation got out of hand, then completely. Therefore I knew how focused and dedicated you needed to be if you wanted to come out of it with just a black eye. Hysteria and panic attacks or even aggression were misplaced. A slight nervousness was all I could allow myself, unnoticed by the others, of course.

It was no surprise to me that Gabriel preferred to stay with the others in the house. In his place I would have reacted the same way, to be able to watch how our new 'guests' behaved as long as they did not know that a powerful person was present.

So I went alone to the porch - I had gotten rid of Mick only with difficulty and Beth's help - and looked, ready for battle, at the metallic monsters who settled down on my property. They whirled sand, twigs and grass through the air but I was far enough away from them to not have to worry about the state of my expensive clothes. Much more disturbing was the fact the two helicopters, mine and Lance's, were fully occupied and one after another ten people climbed out of them. Apparently, Gabriel had only named the two most important vampires to him, and hadn't mentioned the rest of this rather impressive force for temporal reasons.

My guts, however, had formed a painful knot that would not dissolve anytime soon – of this I was sure. I tried to breathe deeply and calmly to get my - for a vampire much too rapidly beating heart - back under control, to avoid my aggressive vampire mode which would make it extremely difficult to not let the verbal confrontation slip off into a violent conflict.

The group of the newcomers moved quickly towards me under the loud engine noise of the helicopters. Lance walked in the lead, closely followed by Elizabeth and Anthony. Somewhere farther behind I thought I saw Thomas' head of hair but I had no time to go on looking for him because even from this distance I could see that Lance had brought a quite bad mood along. His eyes almost pierced me and his lips had curled into an aggressive smile.

"Did you think you would get away with this?" he called out to me when we were still separated by several feet and I noticed how Elizabeth, behind him, rolled her eyes. Apparently she had not voluntarily appeared here with him as I had feared.

"That you can deceive us and follow through with your own selfish plans?" Lance went on furiously.

I merely raised my eyebrows and let my eyes glide over the remaining vampires. A balanced group: six vampires from our community, four from Lance's entourage. I was, apart from all my worries and fears, also a little curious to know how this mix had arisen and who of them had had the idea to arrive here together. Certainly not Lance, because he was shaking with rage as he came up to me on the porch. I got the impression he wanted to grab me by the throat and punish me instantly for my 'impudence' right here in front of everyone. But he thought better of it, drew himself up to his full height before me - after all, he was only a bit higher than my eye level – bore his eyes into mine and took a deep breath.

"We had an agreement, Kostan!" he growled at me.

"Yes, we did," I replied calmly. "And that's why I'm wondering why you're here already."

I could hear him suck the air noisily into his nose like a furious bull lowering its head to attack, but he remained in place, not even changing his posture.

"Do you think I have no connections to your community?" His eyes sparkled with triumph. "I heard about your little meeting and your plans to gang-up on us – that's the reason I'm here today!"

"To judge us," I concluded with a smile, knowing I drove him up the wall even more with this correct assumption.

But he didn't intend to lie. "If it's necessary," he hissed back.

"Lance," I heard Elizabeth say gently and only one second later she was beside me. "Please calm down. I've already explained all this to you ..."

"Of course," he spat out scornfully, "you always find an excuse for your protégé's provocative behavior. "But this is the limit!"

I felt the anger boiling up in Elizabeth and soothingly put my hand on her forearm. There was no sense in getting upset now. So many things slipped your attention while you were in that state of mind... like Lance, who, in his sheer excitement, had not noticed that we were no longer alone.

"We will all now go in together and take a look at your friend Mick," he went on with vigor and his black eye now seemed to be full of life, flashed at me with fierce anticipation. "And then we'll decide what to do with him - without you and your friends. Because _you_ have forfeited any right to participate in this meeting!"

"So you can decide this?" I replied with dubiously raised eyebrows.

"Shall I prove it to you?" Lance hissed. His movement was so fast that I could not react to it. A hard blow against my chest forced me to take one or two steps to the side so as not to lose balance... and Lance was able to enter the house freely.

* * *

The shock was deep, so deep that Beth was incapable of acting for a long moment - afflicted by her fears and apprehensions. The vampires came! Their futures would be decided right now. The problem was they weren't prepared for it yet.

Beth noticed only marginally that Mick stepped into her field of vision. She was too busy with her own internal turmoil, with her thoughts spinning out of control. Only when he grabbed her shoulders and bent down a bit to her, did she realize that he was speaking to her.

"... go over to the house! Now!" were the last words of his quiet but urgent demand.

She blinked a few times and tried to nod. But her body would not obey.

"That won't be necessary," noted a deep voice close to her. She looked up, confused, into Gabriel's clear-cut face. He had just a moment before been talking quietly with Seth and Logan who were now disappearing into the hallway. "No one will lay a hand on her in my presence."

Beth felt Mick brace himself before he let her go and turned around to the older vampire. She wasn't sure whether she should be glad about the unexpected support or take even more care. This Gabriel was so hard to read...

"She's safer in the other house," Mick countered in a firm voice and in doing so proved once again his stubbornness.

Gabriel uttered a light laugh. "I hardly think so," he replied and crossed his arms over his chest. Apparently he wanted to pursue this struggle with Mick. This was evident in his next words. "She stays here."

Beth's heart stumbled a bit because of these words and picked up speed once more when she saw Mick's cheek muscles twitching and his eyes lighting up brightly. God, what was taking Josef so long out there? She needed him here, now!

Her look around told her the others had also noticed what was suddenly going on between Mick and Gabriel. Their expressions wavered between confusion and horror but no one dared interfere. With every passing second Beth became more aware that Mick had been right in his assertion. That she was his greatest weakness - or rather his need to protect her, no matter how overpowering the enemy was.

"I don't think so," he gave back dangerously low and didn't make the slightest effort to conceal his growing anger. "The hosts are the ones who determine who's allowed to stay in their house and who's not..."

"I must agree with you entirely," said Gabriel quietly. "But usually they try to follow the wishes of their guests..."

For a terribly long moment, Mick looked at the man before him with sparkling eyes, but then no longer seemed to be in the mood to dispute it verbally. Beth winced, shocked, when he grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the reach of the other vampire. "Not in this house," he said firmly, and pushed her slowly backwards, towards the hallway.

Gabriel shook his head and smiled. "This lack of trust... I don't know what I've done to deserve it."

It was just a tiny movement. Beth began to think she had been wrong, but then, suddenly, August and Hendrik moved simultaneously to the living room entrance, planted themselves in front of it so no one could get past without getting rough. Apparently, their respect of Gabriel was greater than their fear of Mick, although these two had already experienced firsthand how dangerous Mick could get when he changed into vampire mode.

Beth saw the troubled flickering in his eyes as he looked threateningly at the two additional opponents, heard his furious breathing and knew she had to act fast, if not, everything would immediately break out into war and chaos. She stopped, stood up on tiptoes, grabbed his face with both hands and forced him to look at her like she had done several times in the past.

"Mick! Listen to me!" She looked at him pressing to let him feel how great her concern was. "The others already know that I'm here. They won't do anything to me - Gabriel can arrange this. And I trust him! Do you hear me! I trust him! And maybe I can leave a little later when I'm no longer needed and no more vampires can cross my path on the way to the other house..."

Mick had to struggle with himself. This she could clearly read from the tension in his face. He never got the chance to react or say anything because at that moment the French window flew open and a tall, dark-haired vampire burst into the room. Beth once again stopped breathing, not only because he looked so mad, but because the room quickly filled, to her horror, with even more unfamiliar vampires. She and Mick automatically backed away a few steps. Even after Josef had finally pushed his way through it did not calm her violent palpitation. His eyes were a mixture of suppressed rage and excited curiosity. Beth wondered what that meant until the sinister vampire with the black eye, who, if she remembered correctly, was none other than Lance, stopped his forward move towards Mick and froze. His eyes had been drawn to another person in Beth's proximity and widened now in silent horror while his pale face slowly lost the last of its remaining color. Gradually, all the newly arriving vampires also froze in their movements. They all eyed Gabriel, stonily and full of disbelief, who was the only person in this room who gave a relaxed impression and was still able to smile.

Lance jaw moved slightly up and down as if he wanted to say something while Gabriel's smile got a much cooler, almost eerie line, as he moved slowly toward him.

"I ... I didn't know...," Lance managed to breathe finally.

Josef stepped to his side, leaned in a little towards him, and raised his eyebrows in played astonishment. "No?"

Gabriel exchanged an amused glance with him as if they were the oldest and best friends. "Apparently not," he noted, and Josef nodded joyfully.

Lance struggled visibly with his composure. His deeply puzzled gaze wandered from Gabriel to Josef and back. "How... how..."

Gabriel raised his finger admonishingly. "Yes. That's the right question. _How_ do _you_ know about this meeting? And what's even more important: Why didn't you inform me about it, like it should have been your duty?"

"That... I would have done right now," Lance stammered and Beth could see that he was slowly breaking a sweat. She would have almost felt sorry for him were it not for Mick next to her, whose welfare she was far more worried. Despite the rapid appearance of the other vampires he still had himself well under control but she could clearly feel his excitement. She saw the suppressed fear in his eyes, the quick rise and fall of his chest and the rapid beating of his jugular vein under the soft skin of his neck. It would not go that well for long...

"I just wanted to check and..." Lance started to explain but stopped immediately because Gabriel raised his hand one more time. It seemed for a moment as if the old vampire wanted to say something but then he turned with a smooth motion to a woman with red, artfully pinned up hair who had entered the living room shortly after Lance. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

"Elizabeth, my love..." His voice was suddenly soft and his smile much warmer than before. However, the woman did not look as if she felt comfortable in her skin. Her smile seemed a bit stilted and uncertainty was written in her wide green eyes. Not without reason.

"What exactly had you planned behind my back, huh?" Yes, behind all this charm, a large amount of genuine anger was hidden. And his words... Beth became hot and cold. Slowly but surely, her suspicions concerning Gabriel seemed to prove true. She once again cast a searching look at Mick who had seemingly succeeded in his struggle against himself for now. His breathing had moderated, his gaze seemed less harried and the new insights concerning Gabriel, which had assailed him as well, did not seem to upset him further.

"Nothing you wouldn't have done in my place as well, mon Maître," Elizabeth replied surprisingly calm.

Gabriel tilted his head a bit as if he was seriously thinking about her claim - then he nodded. "Yes, you may be right." Beth winced as he surprisingly let out a little laugh. "You Americans always have to... fight for your independence..." He shook his head but now was more amused than annoyed and Beth noticed how the first vampires started to relax a bit and began to look around more closely.

"But you forget we're a family," Gabriel continued and then let his gaze wander, seeking the faces of the other vampires which brought back their undivided attention anew. "We should stick together in a situation like this, and trust each other, don't you think?"

Most of the other vampires nodded noncommittally but Beth was sure that they only did it out of fear rather than from conviction.

"It's not about a lack of trust," a strong Mediterranean-looking man raised his deep slightly hoarse voice and stepped forward bravely, "but we wanted to participate in this meeting you've convened. Tomorrow's appointment, we've only just learned of by chance."

Gabriel drew up his eyebrows and Beth noticed that Lance was again a bit more nervous. "What appointment?"

"Sire, ... I can explain," he immediately piped up.

"Let me guess! You would have informed me today?" Gabriel divested him of the rest of his sentence. His voice was cool, but without the slightest hint of anger.

Lance gritted his teeth. "It's not what it seems..."

The older one paid no further attention to him but turned back to Elizabeth and the man at her side.

"And how does it happen that you're arriving here together?"

"May I say something about this?" a vampire asked from the back row, stepping forward from the crowd under the faint murmurs of the others. He looked to be in his forties and for a vampire had a pleasant look. His brown eyes were so warm and his face so soft and friendly that Beth immediately liked him.

Gabriel's eyes lit up and the smile he gave the man was purely sincere. "But of course, Thomas," he replied with an inviting gesture.

"There are some in our ranks who didn't considered it right to have this meeting without you and had briefed Lance on our plans." Thomas cast a suggestive glance at a red-haired vampire with a ponytail who tried to hide inconspicuously behind two of his comrades. Beth hesitated. She had seen this guy somewhere before... but she was not able to think further about it because suddenly she felt Mick's warm fingers close around her hand and looked up at him. He looked at her briefly then let his eyes point conspicuously to the entrance in the living room. Beth followed his gaze and instantly understood. Hendrik and August had moved away from the entrance attentively following what was happening between Gabriel and the other vampires. If she wanted to disappear there was no better time than this.

"And since Lance had already been in LA a few days...," Thomas now went on, "he immediately paid a visit to Elizabeth to take her to task. Coincidentally, some of us were at that moment in conversation with her..."

"And whose idea was it to come straight here?" Beth could hear Gabriel ask as she, with rapidly beating heart and fighting with her own reluctance, moved slowly to the exit, while keeping her eyes glued to August and Hendrik.

"It was a joint decision," Lance responded – a bit too fast not to make himself suspicious. Beth saw it was more likely that he had been furious with them and had wanted to leave, and Elizabeth and the others had joined him out of sheer necessity.

"I see," Gabriel said simply and his eyes wandered once again over the faces of all the others. Beth had no choice. She had to remain so as not to betray, through a careless movement, her and Mick's plan. Her heart was pounding up into her throat as a look from the old vampire drifted in her direction. But then his gaze focused back on Lance once again.

"Well, if that's true, then you're all here to put aside the misunderstandings and the inability to trust one another once and for all," Gabriel concluded a little provocatively and only then did Beth dare to move again. The exit wasn't far away. She only needed to take a few steps to reach it. She briefly looked around again for Hendrik and August who still stared at Gabriel as if under a spell and then disappeared into the dark corridor. Only a few meters away she had to stop again and supported herself on the walls with trembling arms to get a grip on her racing heart and her slight breathlessness that was brought on by her excitement. Nevertheless she still tried to pick up every possible word of the talks which of course were carried on without her.

"It's not about this alone," she heard Lance say. Apparently, the shock of Gabriel's presence was slowly evaporating. "Here, a few weeks ago things happened that require certain sanctions otherwise the order in our society will be completely turned on its head." Beth held her breath and her heart muscle, that had slowly come to rest, cramped once more to then start beating like mad again.

'Beth, you need to go!' demanded her voice of reason. 'If you want to help Mick survive unscathed, you need to disappear from here!' But her inner voice could not compete with her stubbornness and concern for her friends.

"The order of our society barely exists anymore in the last few months!" That was Josef - right as usual, and with evident anger in his voice. "And _we_'re not the ones to blame for this - the Legion is!"

"You started your private little war against the Legion - before discussing it with us!" Lance put up some resistance. "Without regard to all other vampires! And you have opposed and fought your own kind! One vampire was almost completely drained by one of you and another one was seriously injured. Such actions deserve the death penalty..."

"Lance!" Gabriel stated losing patience. "Josef's right. We are in a state of emergency thanks to the Legion – so your desire to abide by the rules is absurd."

Beth began to really like this guy...

"There have been over the centuries several attacks by the Legion," Lance replied almost defiantly. "Remember the French Revolution and, even then Luis insisted..."

"I don't care what Luis said!" Gabriel raised his voice and showed for the first time what an impressive volume and menacing expression he had at his disposal. "Luis has said and done many things in his life which have not pleased me and he was anything but a man who acted with caution and reason. Ultimately his stubbornness and lack of flexibility brought him death. So don't come to me with the rules and laws _he_ held important within the Community! We no longer live in the Middle Ages!"

"But..." Lance began a bit more subdued but even this objection Gabriel didn't allow him.

"No, but!" he snapped at him. "Whatever the laws _were_ in our community, in our current situation, they can only be stumbling blocks which will hamper us and in the worst case scenario bring us death!"

These words were followed by an oppressive silence and Beth's reason had yet another chance to regain control over her body. She took a small step away from the wall and forced herself to continue to move slowly down the hallway. Of course she kept her ears pricked up but came to a halt again when one of the other vampires spoke.

"I think the problem is that we have all heard too many rumors about the events in recent weeks but cannot properly assess the truth behind them. That scares many of us."

"Thank you, Thomas." This was a female voice, probably Elizabeth. "This is exactly what I wanted to say. We know the Legion has done terrible things with vampires and only one has survived the ordeal... and that's you, Mick."

Beth swallowed hard. Oh God, now they were talking directly to him. Hopefully it would go well.

"And quite honestly, after all the things I've heard, I'm glad to see that you seem well and that you're not the uncontrollable beast one of us has claimed..."

There was a slight noise in the entrance to the living room that made Beth take notice and her legs became active again, moving further down the corridor. Not good... not good... Her heart made a painful leap against her rib cage as the strong, dark figure of a vampire walked into the hallway and looked around searchingly. Quickly his eyes found Beth and with his malicious smile Hendrik exposed his sharp fangs.

* * *

There were three things I had become aware of in the last few minutes of this strange situation. First: Gabriel, whose real name was hardly familiar to anyone in this world, was clearly the one all vampires reverently referred to as _He_. Even if he hadn't confessed to it yet - I doubted he would, because he seemed to be enjoying this little game of hide-and-seek and the whole mystery surrounding his person - Elizabeth's posture especially convinced me of this. It wasn't just the way she had responded to him, the flashing of her eyes, the titling, 'Mon Maitre' and the underlying tension between them. It was also the smell that emanated from Gabriel because I could also pick it up on Elizabeth. His blood was pulsing in her veins...

Second: Gabriel surprisingly was, for some dubious reason, already on our side and our chances were therefore not as bad as I had first assumed. We only needed to know how to use this to our advantage and make sure that we didn't make Gabriel angry.

Third: This however became a small problem because Beth had quietly left the room, and unfortunately Hendrik had noticed her absence, immediately scented where the young woman had disappeared to and had followed her. That was bad enough, but even worse was the fact that I could do nothing about it without showing Mick that their plan had failed. A queasy feeling told me that he didn't need my help to figure this out...

"You must be joking!" exclaimed Lance. His own hatred of Mick blinding him to his mentor's mood whose smile was slowly fading. "How can you determine this in such a short time?" he addressed Elizabeth, throwing a searching glance in Mick's direction.

My friend's senses suddenly focused on something else. His head flew around to the hall and a split second later he began to move, causing a slight uneasiness among the others in doing so. There was also nothing to keep _me_ at my place. I knew I had to intervene immediately even though it was clear I had no idea what I was going to do. Another was even faster than me. August fearlessly blocked Mick's way, and raised his hands soothingly.

"Mick, don't... this..." He got no further. A low growl, a movement with the force of a bazooka, and August was hurled through the air, flew into the terrified crowd and carried three other vampires off their feet. After that, _I_ now had the chance to seize Mick by his arm but within seconds was also launched a few feet into the air back into the crowd. Gabriel caught me in time and put me back on my feet. My eyes darted anxiously to Gabriel's face, and to my surprise I found an expression of complete fascination and near excitement there.

"Back! Get back!" a voice suddenly yelled with a mixture of fear and fierce joy in it. My head flew around. Hendrik pushed back into the living room, holding a gasping Beth as a shield before his body, one arm wrapped tight around her neck, his fangs exposed threateningly close to her neck. Beth's eyes were full of panic. She had dug the fingers of both hands into Hendrik's forearm trying desperately to gain more room to breathe. Nevertheless, she still tried to signal Mick with looks and silently shaking her head, that he should do nothing. I myself was petrified. I was immediately aware of Hendrik's stupid plot. Now there would be no one to calm Mick down. The disaster was initiated...

"Make one wrong move freak, and I'll break her delicate neck!" threatened the dumbass. Mick's bluish white eyes fixed on him with such a thirst for blood that it even caused the blood in my veins to freeze. His body was strung as tight as a bowstring, and he did not move a muscle. What_ I_ knew, that Hendrik didn't, was that Mick was only waiting for _him_ to make one wrong move.

"What exactly is the point of this?" Gabriel turned not to the 'genius' who had caused such a turmoil among us, but to Lance who had been grinning maliciously but who was now caught and winced. Instead of giving his minion a hand he only shrugged his shoulders causing a new wave of excited murmurs.

"She wanted to bolt from here," Hendrik explained and surprisingly was smart enough to keep his eyes glued to Mick. "I bet she's a traitor and wanted to betray our location to the Legion!"

I could not help it - I _had_ to let out a laugh. It was such a pathetic attempt to raise Gabriel against us, that it almost hurt.

"She's a human," Lance now added as well. "Why should she want to help us when we're fighting against her kind?"

Gabriel's eyes got a little wider and he raised an eyebrow questioningly while the statements of the two men fueled the turmoil among the other vampires. I hadn't known him that long, but somehow I couldn't escape the feeling that he now began to doubt Lance's sanity as well. But Hendrik lacked the necessary brain cells to sense this. The other vampires' excitement inspired him to continue.

"I propose that we 'use' her a bit and then bury her somewhere in the desert..."

There it was - the mistake, the 'wrong move': Hendrik looked around in the hopes of getting approval from the others. Mick reacted so quickly that even I found it hard to follow his movements. He threw himself on Hendrik, ramming his palm against his nose with such force that his head struck with a loud bang against the wall, and dug his teeth so deep into Hendrik's upper arm that I thought he would bite it off completely. Beth was immediately freed and stumbled into my arms, gasping for air, distraught, while Hendrik's unhuman screaming caused the windows of the house to rattle. I soon understood the reason. Mick had not reopened his teeth as Hendrik broke away from him and now spat the piece of flesh at the vampire's feet, who slid down the wall before him, moaning. Mick grabbed him by the neck with one hand, pushed him to the top of the wall until the man, rattling, lost ground beneath his feet. The atmosphere in the room had changed within seconds. Fear and terror had seized all the others who were now backing away in fear. I didn't want to admit it but with this cold blaze of hatred in his white eyes and the blood that dripped from his fangs, running over his lips and chin, Mick really did look like a monster, a ravening beast.

I swallowed hard and tried to get my hammering heart back under control. No matter how slim the chances were, Mick urgently needed to transform, he had to become human again, now. Yet his behavior was still explainable. You could still convey to the others that he was in control - even if I knew myself that this was not the case...

Beth recovered herself faster than me. She was again able to hold her body upright on her own and stumbled towards Mick, the beast, who dropped Hendrik like a wet sack because of that and turned to her threateningly slow. If he attacked her now, all was lost ..

"Mick... it's okay," she stammered hoarsely. "All is well again..."

I as well as everyone else in the room dared not to breathe out of sheer horror, as his hand shot towards her and he grabbed her arm. But just as it had been in the barn, he only pushed her behind him and shielded her from all of us. His cold gaze wandered harried back and forth between the many faces.

"Get out!" he growled dully. "All of you!"

No one reacted. Most were scared. Only Gabriel and I remained - at least outwardly - relatively calm. I because I had to, and Gabriel, because he was still more fascinated than concerned. Beth tried talking quietly and soothingly to Mick, tried to turn him to look at her but failed, instead this only made him more nervous.

"There you see," Lance uttered a bit too strident. Mick's behavior seemed to have reminded him of what he had already done to him. The fear was back. "I told you so! He's a crazed animal! He's going to attack us all! He has no control over himself!"

"Lance, calm down," Gabriel replied quietly but didn't stop looking at Mick. Now, even a small smile appeared on his lips. "This only takes a little practice... So much power. This is really amazing..."

"Exactly!" Lance tried it again. "No one can overwhelm him alone. We..."

"_I_ can," Gabriel interrupted him and indeed took a step toward Mick who had understood him only too well and instantly moved backwards.

"Gabriel, that...," I began, but a stern look in my direction silenced me immediately and reduced me to one of the many breathless spectators. Not a pleasant feeling. A small hand clasped my forearm. I briefly looked around into Elizabeth's beautiful eyes. "He won't do anything to him," she whispered to me. "Trust me. He's on your side..."

"But he doesn't know Mick's powers," I gave back worried.

She smiled. "And apparently you don't know _his_."

I frowned, worried, and then looked back over to Gabriel, desperately searching for a way to help Mick.

"Easy," Gabriel said gently as he continued to move towards my troubled friend. "No one will harm you or the woman. I promise you!"

Mick retreated further and now pushed a desperate Beth against the wall.

"Do you hear me, Mick?" she still uttered bravely from behind him. "Gabriel will protect us. We don't need your vampire side any more."

Mick's glance slid over the rest of us before fixing on Gabriel's face again.

"Yes, look at me," the old vampire brought out in a strangely melodic voice and was already a significant step closer to Mick. "Look at me. Look into my eyes and you'll see that I am not lying."

I couldn't see, because Gabriel was standing with his back to us, but something strange happen between the two. Mick's eyes suddenly became strangely vacant as if being held by Gabriel's eyes and could not pull away from them.

"Beth," Gabriel whispered and pointed with his hand discreetly to the side. "Come away from there... now!"

The young woman's hesitation was clearly noticeable and perhaps that was what ripped Mick out of the light trance or perhaps it was the stumble as she tried to follow Gabriel's request. Mick flinched, turned slightly and tried to grab for her. He was again incredibly fast... I winced, blinking in confusion, because suddenly it was Mick who was whirled through the air and was then driven back against the wall. He had neither the time nor the strength to ward off Gabriel, to get rid of the arm which now pressed against his chest. Gabriel's other hand had grabbed his shirt, limiting his mobility on both sides and the old vampire braced himself with all his might against my hissing and writhing friend. It was not easy keeping him in check, to not give into the pressure of his hands digging into Gabriel's arms and pulling at him. But for the first time since I had freed Mick from the hands of the Legion, I had the feeling that his power was limited, was not insurmountable. He had met his match and oddly I felt as if a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

"Look at me! Look at me!" with a wildly pounding heart I could hear Gabriel urging once again. Mick was not able to defy his will, and stared into his eyes, breathing heavily. "You can tame the beast inside you! I know how hard it is, but you are stronger! I know it! I can see it! All you need is to _want_ to change back!"

His face was only inches from Mick's who gave the impression that all he wanted to do was mangle the old vampire, but his resistance to the firm grip of the elder surprisingly faded away slowly. And, yes... something happened there in Mick's eyes. Something stirred there that I still could not interpret… Was it astonishment? ... Knowledge? Knowledge about what? At least, his anger had decreased.

"You can do it! You can!" Gabriel went on motivating him and the encouraging tone brought new hope even to me. "Don't disappoint me!"

My heart skipped a beat. The unbelievable happened: Mick's breathing became steadier, his eyes got darker... he was changing back, back into a human! In _this_ situation! I was stunned, bewildered and exasperated... Just as everyone else in this room was.

Slowly Gabriel pulled back, released Mick from his vice-like grip, and a strange smile appeared on his lips. "Well, then," he said and then nodded to the distraught Beth who had not moved far from them. She uttered a noise that was somewhere between a sob and a sigh and was helped with a few steps to Mick. She willingly let him move her into his arms and hid her face against his chest as he peered over her shoulder with a mixture of confusion and visible distrust of the other vampires.

"I think, with that, all concerns regarding the controllability of our friend have now been settled," Gabriel addressed all present and I was grateful to him for that. He was slowly beginning to impress me and I now understood why the vampire world had such great respect for him.

"In no way we're going to..." Gabriel suddenly stopped in mid-sentence and the next moment Seth stumbled noisily into our 'happy' group. He seemed excited and nervous, took no time to eye up the other vampires and instead headed directly for me. My stomach did a nasty turn. Gabriel wasn't the only one to feel the impending disaster.

Seth was nervous, very nervous and a queasy feeling deep inside me told me it wasn't because a swarm of ancient and powerful vampires had gathered in his absence. However, he needed only my questioning gaze to come up with the reason.

"I... Gabriel advised us before to hack into one of the satellite transmissions to maintain an even wider view of the terrain ..."

My impatience grew with every syllable he gave. Why did the guy have to make it so complicated? "And?" I urged him.

"We just managed this and something immediately caught our eye," Seth went on hastily. "One of the helicopters is sending a GPS signal!"

Silence. Shocked, stunned, silence. Gabriel was one of the first to recover himself, and quickly turned to Lance. "Have you seen anyone at your helicopter today who shouldn't be there?"

Lance shook his head in shock. He had become as white as a sheet, for he, as well as the others, was suddenly aware of the danger in which we found ourselves.

I myself had become boiling hot. One of the helicopters belonged to me and I had also been in LA...

"Ritchcroft," it slipped slowly from my lips as I realized I had made a huge mistake in underestimating this man.

Gabriel swung around to me, stared at me in disbelief. "_Paul Ritchcroft_?" he asked sharply.

"I had him taken away in my helicopter," I admitted outright, now shaking my head about. "I had a deal with him..."

"What kind of a deal?" Gabriel's eyes nearly impaled me.

"Information in exchange for his escape."

Gabriel let out a sad laugh. "This man isn't on the run! He's one of the biggest fanatics of all. He would even chase us with his arms and legs chopped off!"

I felt sick. Apparently I had, when it came to acting and pretense, now met _my_ match. I'd never been so fooled by anyone before. How could I have guessed that a person would be so driven to risk his own life and betray his own people just to reach his goal. A goal he had probably achieved. He knew now that Peterson and Mick were together in the same house and he knew where that house was. The only question was why he had waited. The helicopter had landed here the day before. Unless... unless...

"They knew that we wanted to meet here," Gabriel voiced my thoughts. "They will be here any moment. We need to get out as quickly as possible!"

A loud rumbling from the hallway made humans as well as vampires cringe violently. But it was only Logan who stumbled into the living room. He was deathly pale and the panic which was readable in his eyes betrayed what followed next: "Helicopters! And there are also jeeps arriving!"

Had the news not been so devastating, I would have groaned, irritated. It seemed as if the verbal confrontation with the other vampires would become a violent one with the soldiers of the Legion.


	56. Negotiations

_*__Great Sunday to all of you! Here's the new chapter (thanks to Cleo, who did again the translation and Sg6169 who was again my dear beta reader). Now there are only four chapters left and then 'Newborn' will be over. I know that the next three are quite exciting so I'll maybe try to post them a bit earlier. Maybe you get the next already on Wednesday. And then we'll see. And as you know: I neeeeeeed feedback! Best wishes, Jenna*_

_P.S. Lucretiareadsall: I can only tell you that Gabriel is indeed a special vampire – not only because of his age. ;o) And so is his connection to Mick. But I won't tell anything more. And about the American TV programs – I think some people can get them but I'm not one of them. I think it's good that way, because another series with Alex would distract me too much from my story. And I really want to finish it._

_P.P.S. I also wanted to thank my dear readers who give me so regularly feedback. Moonjat54, Marcy, Lucretiareadsall, Sg6169, loveyoujar and SamBrody – you're just great! I can always count on you and that's just a great feeling! So, thanks and big hugs to you. Also, to everyone else who has ever written a review for me. This makes me go on._

* * *

**N****egotiations**

Beth couldn't remember how she had felt back then, to be awoken in the middle of the night, abruptly, and kidnapped by this alien, ghostly woman. She had to have felt helpless, exposed and completely incapacitated. Much like now, at this very moment.. She stood here again in this early evening, not knowing how to react to this new situation, not knowing what she should feel or think and what she would do about it.

But she was not alone in these feelings. Logan's words had caused them all to stop dead in their tracks, but not everyone had been successful in fighting their burgeoning panic. Several vampires immediately fled to the porch door.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Gabriel's voice rumbled with such power that not only the ones addressed stopped in shock but all the others in the house flinched visibly as well. "NOBODY LEAVES THIS HOUSE WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!"

Silence. Frightening, oppressive silence. Only the roar of multiple machines outside could be heard now. The Legionwas fast - too fast! Beth's heart pounded wildly in her chest and she moved without thought to Mick's side, who, like everyone else stood motionless not knowing what to do next. The expression in his conspicuously pale face caused her to struggle with all her might against her own panic and reach out for his hand. She flinched; his fingers were cold as ice.

Gabriel took a deep breath. "I want you all, to pull yourselves together and do exactly as I tell you, then we may have a chance to get out of this whole thing with relatively few losses. They will not attack immediately, so try to calm yourselves. Panic has never been helpful in situations like this." He let his gaze wander warningly about the tense faces of those present, but the nervousness did not subside easily, because the frightening sounds from outside were growing closer.

"I want part of you to transform immediately and remain in this state as long as possible," Gabriel ordered strictly. "Then we'll switch. Are there blood reserves here?" He looked at Josef who nodded quickly and pointed to the fridge, and Beth wondered what this was all about. She was the only one who didn't understand, because at that moment the first vampires started to comply with Gabriel's commands.

"Should anyone be overcome with fever he or she will take a blood bag but no one - NO ONE touches the humans here!" He paused intentionally giving a stern look at some of the distressed vampires - specifically Lance and Hendrik, who had clumsily, drug himself over to his master. He was sweating heavily and the sleeve of his gray shirt was completely soaked with his blood.

"Thomas," Gabriel addressed, to Beth, the most sympathetic looking vampire of the group but who had lost some of his friendly appearance with his transformation, "pick a few men and try to cover the doors and windows so they can't see in. Everyone else, spread out around the house. Watch them, but keep moving, don't give them a fixed target."

A jolt went through the small group, and suddenly everyone knew what he or she had to do. From the beginning, no one had dared to contradict Gabriel. Beth, however, still felt terrible. She had the feeling she needed to hold Mick, to somehow be able to give him support but how could she when her own panic was so great that all she wanted to do was run as far away as possible from this terrible place. Gabriel's clear instructions had indeed calmed her a little, but the strange looks these transformed vampires threw at her and Mick, frightened her so much it was hard to keep her composure. It didn't help that Frank came to them with shaky legs and looked at Mick and her with deep worry in his eyes either. Only when Josef moved towards them, did a little of her confidence return. She would love to have held on to him as well, despite his visible fangs and white eyes. She wasn't sure if Mick could feel what she was thinking, but he suddenly pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arms around her. Although she immediately felt safer, the affect of this strange possessive gesture had not escaped her. It wasn't until that moment that she realized Mick was no longer in his human condition. His whole body had become cooler and his heartbeat, for the magnitude of the situation approaching them, was far too slow. This explained why he was still so astonishingly composed and not, as she had feared in view of the advancing soldiers, having a nervous breakdown, flailing and biting wildly. The contact with Gabriel seemed to have enabled him to transform into the self-controlled, cool vampire, who had appeared for the first time two days ago in the barn and had frightened everyone with his cold calculated behavior. Beth allowed herself a cautious glance into his face. Mick did not look at her. His light blue eyes concentrating on every movement around them and the tension in his body, told her that all his other senses were also highly active. Even though Mick seemed calm - he was preparing internally to defend his and her life with all his might and the cold deadly look in his eyes made her a little afraid. The remains of Hendrik's blood around his chin and lips yet testified into what a ravening beast he could transform...

The noises from outside told Beth the helicopters of the _Legion_ were now landing, and who could say whether some of the soldiers hadn't already been lowered down by rope and had long since surrounded the house.

"We can do this," Josef whispered and nodded emphatically as if to convey more confidence to himself than anyone else. Beth felt that even his fear was growing second to second. His whole body was tense and his eyes kept wandering back to the porch door, which unfortunately did not have a curtain that you could close. One could hardly see through the dirty window anyway and especially now with dusk was starting to fall.

"What... what's the purpose of the transformations?" Beth brought out with scratchy voice to distract herself from the panic welling up in her again, and turned, as far as Mick would allow, toward Josef.

"This is genius," answered Frank from his place with an audibly trembling voice. "The Legion often works, when fighting against vampires, with thermo graphic cameras. In their normal state vampires are easier to distinguish from humans. But if they turn, their body temperatures increase and the identification then becomes more difficult. They will not storm the house if they don't know the position of the people they're going after. The risk of killing them accidentally would be too great."

"And what if their welfare makes no difference to them?" Beth stated alarmed.

"This isn't the case," Josef replied. "These are Ritchcroft's troops and he's involved in the research program."

Gabriel had given additional instructions and quickly came over to them. "Where are the weapons hidden?" he turned immediately to Josef and caused Beth's stomach to make an unpleasant somersault. "And don't try to tell me you haven't hidden them - we both think in fairly similar ways..."

Josef nodded and waved Seth over to him, who had been running helplessly back and forth between the others. "Grab August and gather all the weapons we have hidden," he ordered and Seth started to move once again.

Gabriel nodded briefly and moved closer to Mick whose tension grew drastically. "I know this won't be easy for you now, but you have to try to stay in this state as long as possible," he said softly, and once again succeeded in holding Mick's gaze. "You can not let the beast within out. Not until I tell you to. You must save your forces for the right moment. Otherwise I can't guarantee that I can get you out of here safely." He paused a moment. "But I promise you I will try with all the strength and power I have! And if you do what I tell you to, we can make it."

It took a moment, and then Gabriel released Mick from his gaze and looked at Josef. "It's time to force them to negotiate," he said, nodding to him. Josef seemed to have no objection because he followed the elder immediately, as he briskly walked toward the porch door. The noise from outside was now menacingly loud and Beth thought she heard the squeal of brakes and car tires sliding over sandy ground. She couldn't do anything about it: the panic was back. She automatically grabbed Mick's waist and pressed closer to him. She felt his arms stretched around her shoulders and took a deep breath and allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment to send a prayer to heaven. The now much quicker beating of his heart resounded against her body, like an uncanny drum roll, a drum roll that heralded the decision of their destinies.

* * *

Fear was a terrible feeling. Oppressive, paralyzing, numbing. I had always hated it, hated it even more knowing the reason behind it. And yet there was still something keeping me afloat, allowing my mind to believe that everything would be okay: the fearlessness, intelligence and experience of the man at my side. _If_ there was anyone who could come up with a strategic advantage to help us out this hopeless situation, it was Gabriel - or whatever his real name was. What told me this, was not only the certainty that he was indeed Nefario, the medieval war-hero and savior of the former vampire community but also the look of his alert eyes, his self-confident posture, his imperious completely anxiety-free aura. When he walked with taut steps onto the porch, his gaze roaming over the armada of the advancing enemy, he raised his arms in a calming gesture to the heavily armed soldiers that took up their position around the house, conveying his willingness to negotiate and his oddly inappropriate calmness seemed to transfer to me as well. The idea that we were unprotected at this instant and provided an excellent target for the silver bullets of the dangerous Legionnaires hadn't bothered me at all, for at this moment I suddenly felt truly immortal.

Excited cries, disengaging arms and trampling of heavy boots on compacted ground reinforced the impression that our early appearance had put the men around us off their stride. Almost all of them had aimed their guns at us but hadn't approach us further or even tried to shoot but remained at a respectful distance.

Two helicopters had landed on this side of the house and I was able to count three jeeps, which had been fully loaded and were now serving as cover for many of the soldiers. Certainly, these two-dozen of men were experienced fighters, but with such a collection of vampires found in this house today, they had not had to fight in a longtime, and because of this they were quite tense.

Gabriel dropped his arms again when one of the men towards the back freed himself from his frozen state and gave orders to stay calm and not shoot before he slowly walked toward us.

It didn't take me long to figure out that I knew this man. His form, the way he walked and moved and the cool smile, which appeared on Gabriel's lips, confirmed my suspicion that this was Paul Ritchcroft in front of me.

Without having to speak to each other, we started moving to meet this sneaky bastard. The closer we came to him, the greater my desire became to throw myself on him and scatter his intestines over the sandy ground, still warm from the setting sun.

"Easy," Gabriel whispered in a tone that no human could hear. "We still need him... I want you to draw his attention especially in the beginning, but please, don't attack him. Just talk with him..."

I could not answer him, because we were now so close to Paul Ritchcroft that we had to concentrate on him. It was a different man that walked up to me who I had met at our last meeting. Determined, cold and confident. Not a hint of uncertainty or even fear was noticeable, a soldier through and through. And he was so sure he would win this battle that he even dared to smile at me provocatively.

"It's a small world," I said to him when I realized he was heading to Gabriel and in doing so forced him to turn to me.

"Surprised?" he dared to ask with a friendly smile and the anger in me began to boil again.

"Let's just say I hadn't expected it so soon and fancied the circumstances to be a bit different," I replied with a calmness that stood in stark contrast to my troubled inner self.

"That's the way life goes sometimes," he gave back with a smile, "if one gives it a shove in the right direction - of course." He eyed me up shortly. "I didn't come at a bad time, did I? I see you have important visitors..."

He now looked at Gabriel and eyed him up in the same provocative way he did me. I was sure that the hidden intention behind this was to see if we were armed. Gabriel seemed to have gotten the same impression.

"Don't worry," he said simply, "the weapons aimed at your head are in the house and not hidden on our bodies, Paul." I almost believed him myself.

Ritchcroft laughed cheerlessly. "When we first met I wasn't sure who I had in front of me," he addressed his next words directly to Gabriel and his smile easily matched his counterparts level of deceit. "But now that I know who was expected here today..."

"Oh, I wouldn't come to any quick conclusions, Paul, when all the sources on which you rely, are just rumors," Gabriel interrupted him gently but firmly.

Ritchcroft raised his eyebrows a bit. "Well. What should I call you today? Michel, Raphael, Michael … or Nefario? Since you probably won't give me your right name anyway… "

"Right now I feel quite comfortable with 'Gabriel'," the addressed one smiled, "but that has no relevance to our meeting today."

"You may have a point there," Ritchcroft said without further ado.

"Is there any reason for this little parade?" Gabriel asked hypocritically and again Ritchcroft uttered a fake laugh. But this time his gaze searched mine.

"Well, I have accepted Mr. Kostan's nice invitation here, to look around his house a bit, to maybe find what was lost to us."

"Well, maybe I can give you a little hand with your search," Gabriel replied smiling and Ritchcroft nodded immediately.

"If this help includes getting me access to the house, then I'm all ears," he smiled back.

"Hmmm..." Gabriel brought his forefinger and thumb thoughtfully over his chin, "naturally there would be certain conditions attached… to my assistance."

"Which would be?"

"To be allowed to depart safely with a few of my friends, for example..."

"That all depends on which persons the word 'friends' includes. I would be reluctant to let you leave with the people I'm seeking."

"I understand that." Gabriel acted as if he needed a little longer to think about this problem, and somehow I couldn't shake the feeling that he was deliberately stalling for time. "But I have to confess I have a certain conflict with respect to this..." He cast a significant glance in my direction and I knew what was coming now.

"I have made a few promises that I would hate to break... unless the advantages are good enough to justify such a morally reprehensible action."

It was not difficult for me to look at Gabriel horrified and to take a deep breath to start my protest. However, his quickly upraised hand cut me off before it was spoken.

"There's something you'd better understand, Paul," he continued, "don't screw with me, because every person present in that house will obey my will - no matter what I will decide."

Ritchcroft's eyes remained for a long moment on Gabriel's face, a moment that I used to direct all my senses once again upon this devious human, to penetrate the hard shell of deceit. And then I noticed them, the subtle signs of anxiety, which had escaped me previously because of my hatred and fuming anger: the beads of sweat on his high forehead, the tension in his body and the ever-increasing speed of his pulse. Ritchcroft was not nearly as cool as he pretended to be on the outside. Behind this facade of the grim vampire hunter, was hidden, in the final analysis, just a human with natural instincts. And these instincts told him what any reasonably intelligent person simply _had_ to feel while facing such an old and battle-hardened creature as Gabriel: Be on your guard or your life will come to an end within seconds.

"How many of your friends were you planning on taking with you?" Ritchcroft asked with an admirable firm voice yet.

"Six," was the clear answer. "And I assume the right to take one of your missing persons with me in the helicopter and drop him off only after we have been in the air for awhile and out of danger."

This demand was so arrogant that again my suspicions were confirmed: Gabriel did not take these negotiations seriously. He was stalling Ritchcroft only to gain time to... Well, to do what? For whom or what was he waiting?

Ritchcroft laughed repeatedly but it now sounded angry. "And what guarantee do I have that he will indeed be released?"

"In this regard you will have no other choice but to trust me," Gabriel replied softly.

I could see Ritchcroft taking a deep breath under great strain. "No." He shook his head emphatically. The time for the polite beating about the bush was over. "I don't think you're in any position to demand conditions here. For that reason _I_ have a suggestion for you, Gabriel: within the next half hour you will hand over St. John and Peterson to me and I will allow you to leave this place with one or two of your friends unmolested. If you don't do that, I will not hesitate to use force, no matter what contracts there once was between you and us. How does that sound to you?"

Gabriel tilted his head slightly and gave the impression as if he were a cat who wondered how long it still wanted to play with its prey before it broke its neck. "I'll think about it," he finally said to my surprise.

"That's reasonable," Ritchcroft added and gave me a triumphant smile. I had serious problems with still not biting into his mans throat. Gabriel seemed to sense it because he roughly grabbed my arm and turned me around to push me immediately toward the house.

"Thirty minutes," I heard him confirm again and the next moment he growled dully into my ear: "Don't turn around. He'll think he's intimidated us and we would run away from him rather than think about his proposal in peace."

I tried to breathe deeply and evenly to curb my flaring anger again.

"He's afraid," it slipped softly from my lips, just before we reached the house.

Gabriel nodded, but I could not tell if he was pleased. "At least he's nervous. He hasn't much time. The chances that the other part of the _Legion_ will get wind wind of the whole thing are relatively high - higher than he might think. And that puts him under pressure." Gabriel overcame the last few steps leading up to the porch with two large steps and then turned to me. His face showed for the first time this evening signs of great tension. Apparently Ritchcroft wasn't the only one who was suddenly under pressure.

"We have a maximum of twenty minutes, then he'll attack. If not before."

* * *

Beth had expected that general panic would spread when Gabriel left the house, but it didn't, because the moment the door slammed shut behind him and Josef, three other vampires assumed control in his place: Elizabeth, the sympathetic-looking, dark-haired vampire, who reappeared soon after in the living room, and - unfortunately - Lance. As if it had been coordinated before, they assigned vampires in front of the windows and ordered a few more to guard the entries and exits. The weapons Seth had just collected were almost ripped from his arms and soon Beth had the feeling she was in one of those gangster movies where two gangs fought with each other by barricading themselves in houses shortly before the gun battle broke out. The more she thought about it, this comparison was not that far-fetched...

The adrenaline in Beth's body had increased to such an extent that she found it hard to stand still and wait until an opportunity came to do something to avert the impending disaster. But as long as this wasn't the case she had no other choice than to stay at Mick's side and try to assure him, at least with her presence, that she would not leave him alone, no matter what happened.

The corner of the room in which they were staying, offered them at least a little more protection from a surprise attack. Because of that she had even dared to break loose from her embrace with Mick after a few minutes to better observe what was happening around them. Mick's amazing self-control continued and allowed her to think about things other than how she was going to calm his nerves and prevent him from losing control. She quickly realized that sooner or later they were going to have to leave the house and find a way to get to one of the transport vehicles. But if the entire house was surrounded, this was going to be an impossible task. How were they going to get past the heavily armed, well-equipped troops without any protection? Of course, vampires had powers that made them superior to a normal person - but a vampire hunter was certainly trained in close combat and equipped with special weapons. And besides, _she_ was not a vampire and had almost nothing to oppose these people with. She didn't even have a bulletproof vest.

"Beth..." Mick's voice was quiet but she heard it anyway because he was still close behind her and his mouth was very close to her ear. Her heart immediately began to beat faster again. But she did not turn to him because she felt that he did not want the others noticed their conversation.

"When chaos breaks out, leave here... you must try to get to one of the exits and head to the main house. If they see you're a human, they may not pay much attention to you... I'll try to stay at your side for as long as I can but you must promise me that you'll continue to run if I fall behind - for whatever reason."

The sting of his words penetrated her body, constricted her throat and her eyes began to burn. She knew the risk of losing him again was immense but to hear out loud, so clearly, to let this fact enter her mind was so painful that she could hardly stand it.

"They won't kill me, Beth," he continued in a whisper. "If this all goes wrong, you'll still have a chance to get me back... but if they hurt you..." He didn't go on and it took him a long time to collect himself again. "You must promise me that you'll think of yourself first, your security, your life... please..."

She closed her eyes and clenched her fists so that her nails dug painfully into her palms. What he demanded from her was a lot and she didn't know if she would be able to keep her promise - but she nodded with great effort. Any other response would have only upset him more.

It was the rigid gaze of two green eyes that made her wince a little inside. Elizabeth had noticed her small talk and quickly came over to them. Mick immediately grabbed Beth's arm and brought her behind him a second time that night.

Elizabeth stopped in her movement and raised both hands soothingly.

"Easy, I don't intend to approach her in an unpleasant way," she said quickly. "We're just trying to put together groups that will stay together during the fight." Her eyes wandered over to Frank and Seth who had now approached each other in their fear. "You should not stay with the professor. Seth... that's your name, isn't it?"

The young man nodded scared.

"You both remain with Thomas and I." She turned back to Beth, without waiting for a response. "I think Josef and Gabriel will stay with you and Mick when they reappear."

Beth's heart made a small, hopeful leap. If that was indeed the case, they may have a real chance to stay together and stay out of the whole thing. Gabriel was incredibly strong. To her surprise, the beautiful woman looked around for someone and then quickly bent forward to her. "Keep away from Lance and Hendrik," she whispered to them, hardly audible, and then she was gone again to give further instructions to the other vampires.

These ups and downs of emotions couldn't be good for Beth's heart in the long run. Hope, fear, hope, fear - it was unbearable. And once again her heart stumbled as the door of the veranda opened and Gabriel, followed closely by Josef, rushed into the room.

"Silver ammo, stakes, nets and flamethrowers," he uttered rapidly. "They also have night scopes and thermo graphic cameras. So, be on guard! There are around thirty men at the front of the house. The back will have a few more..."

"Exactly thirty-four," a lighter voice resounded from the hallway and the red-haired vampire, who had previously hidden, stepped briskly into the middle of the room. He probably wanted to make amends. "I was just down with Logan in the basement. On the sides there are twelve. We are completely surrounded."

"They will attack in maybe fifteen minutes and try to smoke us out," Gabriel explained and Beth's heart began to race at these words. Fifteen minutes? Smoking out?

"They will assume that we'll scatter but we won't. We will break out all together to one side and then lure them into the open field. There's also no real cover for us but we are faster and stronger than they are. This is our only chance to win the fight. And if what I'm waiting for happens, this chance will become very real."

"That means you haven't negotiated?" one of the other vampires voiced Beth's thoughts.

"There's no reason to," Gabriel replied severely. "Apart from the fact that our position is far too weak for that." He looked around briefly. "Once you _feel_ something stirring out there, it's starting. You!" He pointed to the red-haired vampire. "Tell Logan, to keep his eyes on the cameras and immediately come up, if anything happens! Thomas, you have to be with Anthony at the forefront."

The vampires started moving immediately and Gabriel turned to Frank, approaching him quickly.

"If there's anything in this house what you'll need later, get it now!" He looked over at Beth. "The same goes for you! Think about it carefully! You won't have another chance to come back and get the things that are important to you later!"

Beth's thoughts tumbled while she was watching Frank immediately stumbling out of the room. She knew what he wanted to get, had to get... but was there anything among her possessions she would urgently need later? Somehow she felt as if there was something that was of great importance. Something...

She looked at Mick, hoping he might help her, but he just wrinkled his forehead in an asking way. Gabriel did not wait for her reaction. He approached one of the vampires, who had settled at one of the windows and peered into the darkness, and took the weapon from the surprised man - a small-caliber gun even Beth was familiar with. She had learned to shoot for self-protection and even had a gun license. She was thankful she had now because Gabriel came to her and handed her the gun.

"Can you handle this?" He asked as she stepped up beside a troubled Mick and took it. She nodded, indeed feeling slightly better with her fingers closed around the cool metal.

"Good. The ammunition is made with silver bullets. Do not be afraid to also use it against vampires. There are some who have quite a hatred for humans. And if they're injured they will need human blood. Stay by my side, as long as you can! Both of you!"

The thick lump in her throat was back and Beth could only nod again. She wouldn't have been able to, anyway, because once again, Gabriel stopped short and closed his eyes. For a few seconds he remained like that, then a strange smile formed on his lips and when he raised his eyelids again, his eyes were beginning to change color.

"They're coming," he whispered reverently. "Let's take advantage of this chaos!" He turned to the others, now fully transformed into one of the creepiest vampires Beth had ever seen.

"It's starting!" he growled with bared fangs and his bluish-white eyes seemed to glow. "Let's show them what it means to tangle with demons!"


	57. Between darkness

_*__So, now as I promised the next chapter at Wednesday. Thanks for you're the many reviews again. This is so motivating! I think I'll be able to post the next chapter at Friday, so you don't have to wait that long this time, for the end of this chapter is… well, you'll see. Would be great if you still find the time to leave a little comment for me. And a big thank you to SG6169 again, who beta read this chapter! See you all at Friday this time, Jenna*_

_Even if I don't have the time to write something to all of the reviews I at least am able to answer the questions in them:_

_Moonjat54: Ritchcroft is a smart person. He definitely knows that Gabriel is a dangerous person he has to handle with care but he wants to use the tiny chance to get what he wants without having to fight that hard. But he didn't know that the other part of the Legion would arrive that soon. And that's indeed something the vampires can use for their advantage._

_Lucretiareadsall: That's right 60 chapters all together. And I indeed started to translate Blood of the Lily together with Cleo. But I have to say that I'll need a little break after finishing Newborn to shake of the pressure a bit and to relax. I really need a rest and also some time to translate a few chapter, that I have a stock of chapters which allows me again to post the chapters as regularly as with Newborn. I think there's nothing as bad for a reader as to have to wait for weeks for a new chapter. I want to go on posting two times a week and for that I have to build this stock of translated and beta read chapters._

_For your other questions: I live in Berlin and I've never been in the USA. Would love to but I think the journey would be too expensive for me at the moment._

_Sg6169: There are indeed a lot of secrets to unfold around Gabriel and I'm so looking forward to write this. And I will also explain what Ritchcroft meant by his line._

* * *

**Between darkness…**

The chaos arrived with a deafening bang. It was not our house that suffered from the violence of the first military strike, but one or more of the motorized vehicles, that had gathered outside our building. Two missiles streaked through the sky hitting their targets hard, striking the vehicles with such force, that it shook the walls of the house. The huge explosions came, sending massive clouds of billowing fire towards the house, blowing out all the windows with their shockwaves, and finally the frantic and anguished cries of dying soldiers could be heard.

I reacted out of a deep-rooted instinct and rushed to my friends, grabbed Beth's arm and pulled her with me into the throng of fleeing vampires. Mick then grabbed her other arm and for the second time in her life, she was thrust at vampire speed through the air. She looked shocked, pale and breathless, but just like us, she had no time to allow her terror to develop further.

Other smaller explosions followed, and the first sounds of machine gun fire were heard. Despite the mixture of rage and fear in my heart, my mind was still functioning well enough to now recognize that both sides of the Legion had collided here and their ferocity was unbelievable. Somehow Gabriel had known it. He had noticed something that had eluded the rest of us, a sign that had left him no doubt that the other, more warlike part of the Legion would show up at any minute. Gabriel, who was now rapidly leading the way to one of the side exits, reached with one hand into the back collar of his coat, and pulled something out. I frowned, but was distracted when Frank came rushing out of Beth's room, stuffing something under his shirt into the waistband of his pants. I grabbed his arm, while brushing past him and pulled him along with me, just in time, because at that very moment a missile struck Beth's room blowing the door off its hinges and carried two of the vampires behind me off their feet. My heart jumped, pumping blood and adrenaline through my veins in record time.

The door before us flew open and we rushed like one large monster, armed with claws and sharp fangs, into the open, into the heated battle of human soldiers, immediately burying some beneath us as we fled.

Something streaked through the air right before me, a silver flash, I heard an alarmed 'get down!' in my head and dove to the side, pressing Frank down, pushing Beth towards Mick, who immediately pulled her down further, completely shielding her body with his own.

Two silver bullets whizzed past my head and splintered the wooden wall behind me. With my heightened senses I became aware of four attackers in our immediate vicinity, moving toward us as they aimed and fired. Mick rolled to the side, taking Beth with him and then rushed toward a small group of trees, which was not too far away from us, while I was forced to move to the other side to avoid another volley of bullets. With horror I noticed another soldier, who spun around to me with a silver stake drawn. I tried to avoid him, even though I knew I would not be fast enough. Again I heard this fine buzzing go through the air. A jolt went through the body of my attacker and as his fist shot towards me, his body collapsed to the ground, headless.

"Watch out!" I heard Gabriel's sharp voice from somewhere, but he had moved so quickly that I had lost sight of him again before I could focus on his form. The demand was accompanied by a slight burst of energy, which made me jump up and rush at another attacker, aiming at me again. I kicked the gun out of his hands and broke his neck in one quick movement. Again bullets were fired at me, but they hit the body of the dead soldier I held protectively in front of me and then threw into his onrushing comrades.

I lunged forward, launching myself at one of the two men and noticed the other being attacked from behind by another vampire, who full of rage sank his teeth into the screaming man's throat. My opponent had dared to pull a knife, but he hadn't gotten far. Within seconds it was buried in his own chest and I was moving forward again, in a crouched position, looking for more enemies.

For the first time since the beginning of battle, I now had time to quickly assess our situation. Gabriel's plan had worked, up to this point. The troops stationed at the side of the house had scattered instead of uniting to taking action against us. They were now involved in, for them, quite dangerous close combats. They had suffered immense losses and so far it looked as though no vampires had fallen. However, the two circling helicopters over the battlefield were of great concern to me. They lit up the ground with their searchlights and fired again and again from above at the combatants. The house was burning brightly now, and lit up the area even further. I had to get away from here. My eyes flew over to the group of trees, where Mick and Beth had run to, but they were no longer there. Was that good or bad?

Voices, gun fire, the loud trampling of many boots. The rear guard marched on and I immediately set into motion along with the other vampires still in my vicinity who were not involved in combat. We had to use the darkness to our advantage, to use our superior senses in order to get the upper hand.

* * *

Beth's pulse was racing, pounding hard in her temples and adrenaline shot through her body, which she desperately needed to give her the strength she needed, and to sharpen her senses like never before.

"Now!" she heard Mick's voice close to her ear and speeded off toward the dark outlines of the barn, which stretched before her into the black night sky. She knew he was following her, but held back a bit not only to protect her from behind but also because he was carrying Frank, whom he had ripped from midst of the turmoil in a suicidal action only a few minutes before. Beth's heart had stopped for a few seconds out of sheer terror, and had only been able to start up again, when Gabriel had appeared at Mick's side from out of nowhere, killing the soldiers around them in a blink of an eye. Beth had not been able to get a good look at the weapon he was using - if she wasn't mistaken, it was some kind of sword – a very effective sword.

Unfortunately, the old, battle-hardened vampire had gone as quickly as he had appeared, and now they were, for a little while, alone again to fend for themselves. They had to find cover somewhere from the dangerous weapons of the Legion.

Beth had not slowed down and halfway crashed against the wooden wall in front of her, catching her weight with her hands. The collision took her breath away for a moment and scraped up her hands, but she turned quickly and reached for Frank, who hung unconscious in Mick's arms. Her eyes scanned the area around them. Again and again she saw muzzle flashes flare up in the darkness, heard painful cries and sounds of battle. But all this was now far enough away to at least be able to rest for a moment. Mick leaned the professor's limp body against the wall next to Beth, trying to prop him up a little. He lifted the professor's head and with deep lines of worry on his forehead, checked the wound on the left side of his temple. It was bleeding heavily and by now had soaked a large part of the collar of his shirt.

"It just grazed him," Mick stated with audible relief in his voice.

Peterson blinked and then lifted his head on his own. He flinched, jerking away from Mick, but then quickly recognized him.

"Oh God, what happened?" he uttered dazed.

"It looks as if we have inadvertently received assistance – namely from the Legion itself," Mick said quickly and like Beth looked around again. They were expecting the arrival of new enemies any moment.

"They're fighting each other?" Frank was horrified.

"Yes, but it will benefit us," Mick said. "It's creating confusion and chaos among them and they'll decimate each other. The only problem is that our new enemies are very thorough. They are here to kill…everyone."

Beth swallowed hard. She had already had the same thought, but had not dared to voice it. The idea was just too terrible.

The roaring of one of the circling helicopters grew louder and Mick glanced up. He put Frank's arm around his shoulder again and nodded to Beth, in the direction of the barn door. She understood immediately and rushed toward it, slipping into the darkness within. One of her hands still clung to the weapon that Gabriel had given her, but she had not used it yet in fear of accidentally shooting one of their own people. She didn't even want to imagine which of her friends were still out there in the thick of battle... Logan, Seth ... and Josef. Oh God, Josef!

Mick was quickly at her side. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness inside the barn enough that she could at least make out the outline of his and Frank's form. The engine noise of the helicopter grew louder and louder as it approached and Mick signalled to her, with the movement of his hands, to get down on her knees. Beth's heart pounded hard against her chest as she followed his command, pressing herself close to the wooden wall. It became brighter around them. The searchlight fell between the cracks of the wooden walls. The engine noise was so close now it sounded more like the roar of a giant predator rushing from the winds at them, and the panic in her interior caused Beth to wrap her quivering arms over her head and remain motionless.

'Let them disappear! Oh, please God, just let them disappear again!' she prayed inwardly.

For a while the helicopter hovered over the barn and she thought they would open fire at any moment, that the bullets would rain down on them through the thin wood of the roof. But nothing happened. Beth cautiously lifted her eyelids and found that the light had moved away and the roaring of the rotors slowly but steadily became more distant.

She breathed a sigh of relief and looked over at Mick and instantly felt sick. He was completely frozen. His gaze was inward as if he was focusing on something that was far beyond the reach of her senses, and she knew he had transformed, felt the strange energetic tingling running through her own body. Even Frank was aware of these changes. He had opened his eyes, horrified, breathing shallow and quickly, for he knew at once that they were no longer alone.

At first, it was only a light whistling, barely audible against the noise of the battle from afar. The kind of whistling a device gave off as if it were switched on. And then there was crackling. Radios, Beth was certain of this and quiet voices soon reached her ear, confirming her worst suspicions.

"Get down!"

Beth threw herself to the floor, before Mick had even pronounced the last syllable. She noticed Mick had pushed Frank to the ground and half buried him under himself, then the rapid shots started rattling off. Wood splinters flew through the air as the silver balls riddled the wall she had just been standing in front of, and Beth flattened her body to the floor, squinting her eyes and let out a low whimper. Fear of death was all she felt. Debilitating, excruciating fear. She did not want to die, she just wanted to get the hell out of this nightmare.

She winced violently as she heard a terrible cry of pain close to her and her eyes flew open wide. Frank lay very close to her flat on the ground, but he had not uttered the sound, but looked at her anxiously. More shots were fired and more screams and Beth slowly realized that their attackers were now the ones who were suffering. She wanted to sit up, but Mick's quiet voice, which now came from a completely different direction, stopped her. "Stay down!" he gasped tense.

She soon understood why. Hurried steps. The steps of several people with heavy boots approached the barn door. Then the door opened.

Beth heard a low growl and closed her eyes again. This time, because she didn't want to see what was happening around her. She didn't need to. The sounds of the violent struggle were clear enough. Breaking bones, gurgling cries of pain, a muffled shot... Something wet splashed into her neck. Then she heard a low buzzing, more sounds wavering between pain and surprise and finally, silence. There was only the rapid breathing of several people close to her.

"Oh, God, oh God!" she could hear Frank breathe and only now dared to open her eyes again. Someone touched her arm and she flinched violently. She looked up into Josef's brown eyes and could not prevent the sob that burst from her throat. She clung to him as he helped her to her feet, trying to regain control over her quivering body through the strength of his movements and then looked around hastily, bravely blinking away the tears that had started to fill her eyes. There he was, Mick. She took a deep relieved breath. He didn't look hurt, as far as she could see. Gabriel was standing directly before him, had grabbed both his upper arms and talked at a level she could not perceive herself. He was still completely vamped and totally upset, but he struggled visibly with himself and seemed to regain control with the help of the older vampire.

"Are you okay?" she could hear Josef ask her. She nodded quickly. Her eyes flew across the bodies of the dead soldiers lying scattered around them. An unpleasant feeling was building in her stomach when she noticed that half the neck of one of the men had been torn to shreds. She immediately knew who had done this, for she had also noticed now the blood-smears on Mick's face and chest.

"There... there will be more soldiers arriving here," Frank stammered and got to his feet with difficulty. "We shouldn't stay here..."

Gabriel nodded and let go of the now much calmer Mick to turn to them. Beth's eyes caught sight of the dangerous weapon, dripping with blood, he picked up. She had been right. It was a sword, a Samurai sword - in the hands of the right warrior one of the deadliest weapons ever. And Gabriel was definitely the right warrior.

"Right now it looks as if Ritchcroft's men have the upper hand," he said quickly. "They shot down one of the helicopters from the sky and it crashed directly into the house. But they're having problems bringing order back to their troops. A lot of them took off to hunt vampires and the soldiers have scattered throughout the entire area..."

"Was this your plan all along?" Josef asked, frowning. Gabriel took the time to lower his head and laugh.

"In such a situation one can not really make plans," he replied, smiling. "But it was my hope - yes. Panic and confusion are powerful allies when they befriend your opponent and not yourself."

"And what 'hope' do you have now?" Josef asked impatiently.

"I have the 'hope' to reach my helicopter, along with you, which I have well hidden in the vicinity of the main house," Gabriel replied. "But we first have to get to the house... Shall we?"

He made an inviting motion toward the door of the barn. Josef took a deep breath, looked at Mick, who had grabbed the somewhat frightened Frank again and then set into motion. Beth tried to stay between the two men. Her heart clearly quickened its pace again.

"What about Logan and Seth?" she whispered to Josef. She really worried about the two of them. They had grown on her so much...

"I can only hope they managed to stay out of the turmoil of battle somehow," Josef muttered, looking around tense, as they stepped through the door. More dead bodies with ski masks and weapons littered the ground. What a senseless slaughter...

Josef bent down and wrenched a gun out of the hand of one of the dead men and threw it to Mick. Another he kept for himself. He and Gabriel exchanged a quick glance, then he grabbed Beth by the arm and ran off, closely followed by Mick and Frank. They ran so fast that Beth's lungs soon began to rasp and she stumbled with increasing frequency. Only in a small group of trees did they pause again. Beth dropped to her knees and tried to remedy the lack of oxygen in her body with deep, painful draws of breath, while Mick and Josef watched out for potential hazards. She coughed a few times and looked at Frank, who had slumped down beside her. The old man seemed to be in even worse shape than her. He was panting heavily, was terribly pale, and seemed to be close to passing out again. But to her surprise, he suddenly opened his eyes in shock, tapped his clothes and sat up, trembling.

"No, nooo!" he cried out in despair. His eyes hurriedly scanned the ground around him and he ran both hands across his mouth so that now Mick and Josef also turned around to him confused.

"Oh, God, this can't be happening!" he breathed, and Beth soon had the feeling that he was close to tears.

"What?" Josef grabbed him by his arm, forcing him to turn around to him. "What's happened?"

"I've lost the syringe bag!" Frank's words now brought also Beth's hand to her mouth. Her intestines knotted painfully. "I've lost it!"

"Where? WHERE?" Josef shook him rudely and Beth saw murderous rage flaring up in his eyes.

"Josef, no!" she croaked and grabbed him by his arm. Her throat felt constricted. Why, oh why did everything always have to go so wrong?

"May... maybe in the barn," Frank whined. "I ... I don't know exactly..."

"I'll get it." A deep voice behind her came out of nowhere and Beth winced violently. She had not realized that Gabriel had caught up with them and out of her shock now staggered to her feet.

"Stay here 'til I get back!" And he was gone again, floated like a dark shadow through the night air.

Josef released Frank reluctantly, giving him his most contemptuous look and then sat down next to Mick, who had watched the whole thing with a poker face as if he wasn't even aware that this was specifically about his life. But maybe he did the right thing, just pushed all the bad thoughts to the back of his mind to keep his two different sides under control. Both men turned their eyes back towards the main house, which lay not too far in the distance from them in the darkness - cold and lifeless. Frank swayed like a reed in the wind, and Beth felt obliged to approach him and support him, helping him to sit down again to rest for a short period of time before they had to hurry off again.

"Do you think they escaped in time?" she heard Mick ask and knew that he meant Alejandro and his family. She had not even thought about them up to now. But it seemed as if that was all that was on Mick's mind. Perhaps his concern for the family had been what had distracted him so much just before.

"It's hard to know," Josef replied.

"Can't you hear or smell anything?" Beth asked cautiously.

"We're not close enough," Josef responded.

Mick gave him a thoughtful and clearly worried look for a moment. "That can be remedied," he said softly. To Beth's horror he got up in one fluid motion and ran off.

"Mick...!" Josef groaned in resignation. "I… I just hate when he does this..." He shook his head, but felt compelled to get to his feet as well. He seized Frank by the arm, pulled him up and forced him again to quickly move forward with him. To let her and the professor remain behind, defenseless, hadn't even entered his mind.

Again, Beth's heart began to pound wildly in her chest. That she could no longer see Mick by now troubled her deeply. Perhaps his new cold side gave him better control over his body and feelings, but it was definitely not more reasonable. Quite the contrary.

The house quickly drew closer. In broad daylight she had loved it. It had looked so welcoming, so friendly and inviting. Now it looked like the perfect image of a horror house: cold, dark and dangerous. The silence was oppressive and very suspicious. How likely was it that a small army was advancing on that place to catch a group of vampires, and did not send a few small troops to the main house to overwhelm the people there and ensure that they could not call help? And they certainly weren't the only ones who had the idea to flee to this place.

Beth heard a sound from somewhere and was not surprised that Josef suddenly changed direction and headed to one of the side walls from which the sound had come. Mick was there, had pressed himself to the wall and signaled them with movements of his hands that they should be quiet. Again, it was hard for Beth not to gasp loudly and stay upright on her feet. Her legs were as soft as pudding and every muscle in her body ached. For a long moment Mick's searching gaze rested on her face. Was that worry flashing up in his ice-blue eyes?

His eyes wandered over to Josef, and again she was witness to the silent talk between the two men. She knew it and didn't like it one bit: Something was wrong and they weren't going to let her in on it.

"Beth." Mick grabbed her face with both hands, and she immediately knew what was coming. "You both have to stay here," he whispered. "Don't move until we're back! No matter what you hear! Promise me!"

She did not want him to leave her. Even for a few minutes - she was terrified something would happen to him if she were not at his side. That thought alone made her want to protest against his request. Nevertheless, she nodded. The determination in his eyes told her he would do what he planned anyway. No matter what she thought about it.

He wrenched her gun from her hands and pressed the much heavier machine gun into them, which he had previously taken.

"Do you know how to use this?"

Again she nodded with great discomfort and noticed from the corner of her eye, that Josef had passed his gun to the professor.

Josef and Mick exchanged glances again, then they sprinted off and Beth made three crosses, begging the universe one more time that day to be gracious and to bring the two men she loved so much back to her.

"Beth..." Frank's whispering voice made her turn around to him. She was surprised when his hand clutched hers and he pulled her close with a surprisingly firm grip while his other hand slipped under his shirt and took out something.

"Take this, Beth," he whispered and handed the thick book to her that he had given to her once before. The book in which he had written everything concerning his research and that she had carelessly placed among her things after she had arrived at the farm with him. She felt as if it was an eternity ago. "If they catch me, you'll need this badly...," he said softly.

Beth grabbed it without thinking about it. "Did you just get this from my room?" she whispered, and pushed the book into the waistband of her pants, and covered it under her blouse. He nodded. "There are ways to make the meds for Mick on your own. You just need the right ingredients... It's all in here..."

"You'll come with us, Frank," she said as confident as possible. "It's going to be okay... we won't need the book..."

"... but if not ..."

"Yes, then I have the book..." She stopped, because Frank vehemently shook his head.

"Not only that... you... you have to survive Beth ... He needs you..."

"I know ..."

"No!" He grabbed her upper arm and his fingers dug painfully into her flesh. "He _needs_ you! Just as he needs Gabriel! You're not allowed to die - either of you..."

"Frank, what exactly..."

A cry near them made her freeze. Shots followed, shouting, fighting noises. Beth flung around, pressed to the wall of the house and pushed herself slowly toward the corner. Her pulse was racing again and her legs trembled. But she had to do it, had to see if Mick and Josef needed her help.

"Beth... don't!" Frank uttered scared, but she just waved him off impatiently, instead grabbed her gun with both hands and pushed forward. A noise from an entirely different direction made her swing around again. She saw three figures at once. Masked and heavily armed, they rounded the corner. It was more out of reflex than conscious decision, when Beth raised the weapon and pulled the trigger. And it was stupid, very stupid, because the men fired back immediately. The gunfire broke the silence. Three silver bullets penetrated skin, tendons, veins, flesh. Blood flowed within seconds out of the deep wounds they left behind. But it was not hers. With wide eyes Beth stared at Gabriel's pain-struck face, who had thrown himself like a solid wall of flesh and muscles between her and the oncoming bullets and staggered forward through their impact.

"Run!" he uttered pressed and his eyes seemed to glow while doing this. Beth didn't want to. She didn't want to let him and Frank down, but it was as if she had no control over her body anymore, as if it would only listen to Gabriel's command. She flung herself about, despite the muzzle flashes and the buzzing of Gabriel's sword and ran, ran as fast as she could, trying to find a safe place under the cover of the house, where she could hide. Where she could wait until everything was over.

* * *

It had been clear that the house of the Rojas' had not escaped our attackers' attention. They had looked for it and had stormed it, and finally had left a few soldiers on site to prevent anyone from trying to call for help by telephone or radio. The fact that neither Mick nor I could smell any blood had, in relation to the worry we had for our Mexican friends, calmed us a little. If they had taken them, they were definitely still alive.

Our only problem now was how to overpower the guards, without them being able to radio where we were. As far as we could tell, using our senses, there were eight in and around the house. Eight men who, due to the battles not far from them, kept guard tense and alert. Of course we could have tried to get past them unseen, but that would have put us in a precarious situation, to possibly be stabbed in the back in the end and this was a risk neither Mick nor I wanted to take - not with two so delicate humans at our side. We had no real plan, only the gut feeling we were doing the right thing as we ran off, silently as only vampires could do and strangely we moved finely in tuned with each other, in sync like we had never done before. For whatever reason, the deep bond between us developed into an ability to act as one person without any kind of exchange. I simply felt what he was thinking, knew what steps he would take next and what he was sensing around him. It was strange but so inspiring that for the second time in the past few hours I felt as if I were immortal, untouchable, invincible...

My senses were sharp as never before. I could smell where the enemy was, heard the crackling of radios, felt where they were standing while we moved in the shadows of the large house like invisible demons, towards the unsuspecting soldiers. There were two men who hid around the next corner, tense, looking for approaching enemies. Certainly they had been equipped with nightvision and held their dangerous weapons in their hands, ready to shoot.

Mick and I paused at the same time and looked quickly at each other. He needed only a split second to transform again and was even faster than me. But neither his vampire appearance nor the bloodlust, which immediately flashed through his body, could make me afraid. Quite the contrary - it inspired me, caused my own blood to boil and switched off all the worries and fears inside me completely. I watched him crouch down and pressed myself close to the wall the moment he jumped into the air and landed with one leap resiliently on the roof ahead of us. He was quiet, but could still not prevent a slight bump from being heard. A bump our enemies had to have heard as well... and should. Immediately I heard faint, excited voices, frantic movements, footsteps coming closer and I too ducked into the darkness of the wall. Everything happened so quickly. Two men came around the corner, their guns pointing upwards to the roof, not aware of the danger that lurked directly in front of them. I pushed off, carried one of the terrified screaming men from his feet, while Mick, with a hollow growl dropped from above onto the other soldier, burying him beneath him and like me ramming his teeth into the unprotected throat of his victim. But even though we were fast and our victims had not had the chance to call attention to their distress, a shot suddenly echoed through the night. We simultaneously lifted our heads and looked at each other. Mick's opponent was not moving anymore and mine only managed a feeble groan, while his fingers still clutched the hilt of his weapon. The bullet had not struck me, but we immediately knew that it would now become very dangerous for us. We could hear excited shouts, the trampling of more boots on the hard ground. We had no time to find cover, so we moved forward, charging the three soldiers rushing at us. The thrill that came over me was so strong, that I didn't doubt for a second that I would lose the fight, not as long as I was blended into this oneness with Mick.

The men started shooting immediately. Bullets whizzed close past my head and my body just before I crashed into my next opponent, carried him off his feet and pierced his carotid artery with my deadly fangs. I did not have to look around to know that Mick had somehow managed to overpower the other two men within seconds. One was still moving on the ground with strangled breathing, trying to press both hands to the huge wound on his neck while the other hung motionless in Mick's deadly embrace and was giving him, with his still circulating blood, new strength. The eyes of my friend were full of hunger, as he greedily sucked in the much needed lifeblood and for a precious few seconds was not able to focus on anything else.

I wiped the blood from my lips, sat up quickly and approached him. My senses took advantage of other movements, the air around us began to tingle and my hackles raised. There were more soldiers coming for us... many more...

"Mick," I urged, feeling the connection between us beginning to wane. He began to let go of my mind, pulled back, delivering himself up to his instincts. "We need to get out of here! Now!"

He let out a low growl, just kept drinking, as if his life depended on it. Shots some distance away made us both wince. And then a burning pain flashed through me, made me stagger a few steps forward, while Mick ripped his teeth out of the neck of his victim and threw his head back in pain. I took a deep breath, full of fear, for I knew that neither I nor Mick had been shot, that it was someone who was somehow connected with us as well. But at least the terror had pulled Mick out of his trance.

"Beth!" he uttered out of breath, but I was sure he was wrong. It was someone else the bullets had hit.

Mick moved with a speed that was unbelievable and I could hardly keep up him. But he reacted mindless, burdened by the feeling that something had happened to his Beth and he was compelled to rush to her aid, missing what my senses registered with fright: the presence of several armed men within firing range.

My desperate "NO!" broke the silence of the night together with the sounds of several muzzle flashes. There were too many bullets that flew at Mick, and when he went to the ground, I knew that at least one must have hit him. Just as I knew they would fire again. I reacted instinctively. My fury and fear energized my superhuman powers once again and I was, at that exact moment, before the approaching men when they fired again. I hardly felt the pain as the bullets entered my body. One had gone completely through me, tearing a large hole in my flesh. My rage was too great, the adrenaline in my blood concentrated as it rushed through my veins. My shoulder rammed the gun of one of the shooters, making it fly in a high arc through the air, while one of my hands grabbed the neck of the other man with such force that I crushed his larynx right away.

More gunfire, more pain. I roared and threw myself headlong into the crowd of advancing enemies, lashing out and biting. I was going to take as many of the enemy with me into death as I could. But I was not alone. It was Mick who broke the neck of the man next to me with a violent blow to his head, his arm which caught me around my waist and brought me protectively behind his back. He then dug his teeth like a wild animal into the next opponent. I wanted to help him, but the silver, which was spreading slowly through my veins, brought this burning paralysis along, forcing me to my knees, making my limbs stiff and heavy. Too many ... too many ...

I wanted to scream when I saw one of the stunned opponents lift his gun and aim it at Mick's head, who had, with his incredible strength, decimated the small force one by one, but my vocal cords no longer obeyed me. A loud bang echoed through the night, and the soldier sank to the ground. Confusion and fear showed on the faces of the other soldiers. They were focusing on someone behind them. I could hear a voice but through my numbed senses couldn't understand what was being said. My gaze rested on Mick, who stood in a crouched position in front of me, breathing heavily, but he did not continue to attack. He was bleeding profusely from multiple gunshot wounds and I had to ask myself what was keeping him on his feet, how he could continue to fight and take a stand, while at the same time I prayed that someone would finally come to help us, that someone would prevent what was inevitably going to happen at any moment. I couldn't do it anymore ... couldn't save my best friend anymore, even though I so desperately wanted to... but the silver... the silver...

A tall, husky man pushed forward through the crowd, punishing each of the soldiers with his sardonic glances.

"We need him alive!" he brought out furiously and then stopped a short distance from Mick. An almost sadistic smile appeared on his lips and I felt the quivering that went through Mick's body, the hatred, the fury but also the panic that the sight of this man caused in him.

"So we meet again," the man said, handing his gun to one of the soldiers and drew a pistol from his strange weapon holster. "You didn't seriously believe that you could escape me for a long, did you?"

My heart began to race, because I suddenly realized who he was. I had seen him once before in the pictures... had heard his sharp voice in… in the video... this terrible man ... My own hatred gave me new strength. I managed to turn around and raise my upper body a bit. My arms still had power, at least a little...

The man calmly loaded his gun and didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that Mick prepared to leap at him.

"I know that silver doesn't bother you as much as the others," he smiled. "But this here will make you quite tame. You still remember it, right? It hurts like hell, doesn't it...?"

Mick attacked, silently and with deadly precision, but he had not reckoned with the fear of the soldiers. Once again, a shot rang through the air and it threw him backwards into the sand, had torn a large hole into his shoulder, so that he twisted in pain on the ground.

Anger flared up in Gallagher's eyes. In one smooth motion he pulled a small caliber weapon and shot the startled shooter in the head.

"I said, don't shoot!" he growled, while the man silently sank to his knees in the horrified crowd of his companions and then fell face down.

I tried desperately to get to my feet, to at least drag myself to Mick, who was still lying on the ground moaning. It seemed as if the silver in his blood was not totally without effect on him. But my muscles refused to obey the orders of my befogged mind. I could only watch helplessly as Gallagher now walked rapidly toward Mick, knelt on his chest despite his barely existent resistance and pulled a syringe from his other weapon.

With an expression of intense satisfaction he grabbed Mick's head, pushed it to the side, despite the strong hands that pushed against his arms and chest with a vengeance and despair, and rammed the needle into his neck.

"Welcome back!" he uttered full of hatred between gritted teeth and pressed the syringe with shiny silver liquid into Mick's carotid artery.

A desperate sound of protest was on my tongue, but my strength even for this wasn't enough. I had to watch helplessly as all life seemed to disappear from my best friend's body and his arms fell listless to the ground.

I had failed... failed... could do nothing to prevent them from taking possession of my friend, to take him away from us again. I had risked my life for nothing. My body tingled and burned, but even this pain could hardly be felt anymore. Everything was suddenly so empty and cold inside of me... I had let my friend down. Maybe I deserve to die like this...

With blurred vision I saw the first soldiers move again, saw a couple of men rush toward me. I could hear someone cock his gun... It was over now...

"No, wait!" It was Gallagher. The soldiers moved back and this hated man crouched over me, looked at me for a moment with his head tilted. "Josef Kostan..." He smiled and looked back at his men. "This is a very old vampire. Perhaps we can still use him. Get the silver out of him as quickly as possible and then load him into the jeep!"


	58. and Light

_*__I know I've planned to post the next chapter at Friday but I'll have no time tomorrow to do this and for your dear reviews really made my day and my beta (Jo, I thank you so, so much! You did a great job with that long chapter) was so fast, I decided to post the chapter now and not to let you wait any longer. I think I'll be able to post the last chapters on Sunday and Tuesday and then 'Newborn' is over. I'm already a bit excited for I really want to know if you what you think about the ending. So, see you all at Sunday again and it would be great if you leave a little comment for me. Yours Jenna*_

* * *

… **and ****L****ight**

It was all so unreal. The screams, the shots, the explosions in the distance… the sound of her lungs, her aching muscles and the tremor, which flashed at regular intervals through her body while she pressed to the wall of the house, moving forward, looking around for a hiding place in a panic, or at least for a place that could give her a little back-up. This all felt like one single, never-ending nightmare. Not only was she in the midst of a bloody war she was not prepared for and also not equipped for, she also had lost sight of Mick, did not know how he was doing, if he was unharmed and out of danger. And Gabriel. Oh, God, Gabriel! She had heard the shots, Frank's terrified cry and had had to fight with herself to not immediately turn around and run back to them. The feelings of guilt had been so great and increased the further she ran, even though her reason told her that this was the right thing, the _only _thing she could do in this situation. Was she to blame that this powerful and critically important man had lost his life? And what happened to Frank? Did they kill him?

All at once Beth couldn't get enough air because this thought caused tightness in her chest that was almost unbearable. She had to stop in her tracks and lean against the wall just to regain her control. She felt so sick, so feeble and powerless.

She suppressed a deep sob and one more time pushed back the tears that were burning in her eyes, leaned her head back and took a deep breath. She winced, startled when she again heard shots very close to her and grabbed her gun more tightly. Again a fight! More suffering and misery. Her mind called to her to stop and not to interfere, but she couldn't stop herself. Because there was such a strange feeling in her stomach, a feeling that demanded to move towards the next corner and see who was involved in the fight so very close to her.

Her heart pounded up into her throat as she slowly crept forward only to be stopped there for a moment. What she saw took her breath away, ripped her heart to pieces and paralyzed her completely for a moment. Soldiers with guns who scattered horrified, screaming, and in their midst Josef, who leapt like a wild animal at several men at the same time, regardless of the bullets that hit his body. Beth wanted to scream, but her voice failed her, because now another vampire attacked the men, came to help his friend... Mick.

And then the panic was gone and gave rise to a cold determination in Beth. She raised her gun in one quick motion, aimed at the head of one of the soldiers... and was suddenly grabbed from behind and pulled back with a jolt against a strong body. A cool hand was pressed painfully to her mouth and stifled her terrified cry while simultaneously grabbing the weapon out of her hands. But Beth was not a person who yielded easily to her fate. She bit as hard as she could and could feel her teeth sink into the flesh of her attacker, soon tasting his blood. The man behind her cried out and let go of her and she threw herself forward. But she was not fast enough. Something hit her head hard and she lost the ground beneath her feet and fell down with such force that the impact took her breath away. The night around her became even darker and all the terrible noises faded away making room for a soothing, cottony silence which was only broken by a very fine whistle. It took a while before she sensed anything again. First, only the whistle in her ear got louder, and as if from a far distance, she heard the voices of two men, strangely distorted and echoing in her ear.

"…absolutely not ... let them get them and take them along. Maybe then they will withdraw and leave the rest of us in peace..."

"Then let's get away from here!"

"So clear off! I have an outstanding score to settle here."

Someone grabbed Beth under the arms and lifted her a little, dragged her across the floor like a prey animal, while her nerves and senses slowly started to work. A throbbing pain pervaded her skull and brought the whistle up to a volume that was almost unbearable. Beth could hear herself uttering a pained groan and lifted her eyelids, trying to blink away the flickering before her eyes. Wraithlike she could see the shape of a man who was walking behind her, while she felt the breath of another one on her cheek and her neck. They dragged her towards a nearby side door of the house. Her head was spinning and she felt terribly sick. Nevertheless, she faintly grabbed the hands holding her, tried to detach them from her body, to free herself. She had to help Mick, had to prevent what the soldiers were doing to him and to Josef.

"No... No," it slipped with great effort from her lips when she was lifted up and pressed with her back against a wall. She was now at eye level with her attacker, but it took her a moment to realize who was there in front of her, because small flashes of light flickered before her eyes, and her head was still spinning.

"I knew I would catch you again sometime," a voice, she thought she had heard somewhere before, pierced her ear. She blinked a few more times and finally the dark schemes assembled to a somewhat recognizable image. She looked into Hendrik's cold vampire eyes and saw his sharp canines which he had bared into a sardonic smile.

"_You_ bit _me_ - eh?" He laughed incredulously. "Do you really believe you could seriously hurt me with these ridiculous stubs?"

Beth did not answer. She was still struggling with coming to her senses and simultaneously suppressing her despair which grew with every second that passed.

Hendrik laughed maliciously. "How does my blood taste, huh? I have to say: Welcome to the club, baby!"

"Hendrik," a dark figure behind the powerful vampire hissed and stepped into the subdued light of the moon which fell freely through a large window on the side of the house. "Not so loud!"

Beth didn't know the blond vampire at Hendrik's side, but he looked worried and therefore looked instantly more reasonable to her than this mad man before her.

"Please!" she uttered in his direction. "Out there..."

"You better deal with what's just about to happen_ in_ here," Hendrik growled and grabbed her neck. "And believe me, even though everything is exploding around me, I will make time to pay you and St. John back for what he did to me. I, too, can be a beast."

Beth reflexively grabbed his fingers and tried to pull them away, struggling against the pressure they exerted on her throat. For a moment she thought he would strangle her instantly, but then the pressure eased and she gasped for air in panic breathing in deeply through her nose and mouth the oxygen her lungs so desperately needed,. Hendrik grinned sadistically, enjoying the fear that she could not conceal from him any longer. His gaze slid greedily over her neck to his own fingers which he slowly detached one after another from her skin uncovering her violently throbbing carotid artery. Much more slowly he leaned toward her, enjoying each of her symptoms of fear: Her wide eyes, her rebellion against his firm grip, her sound of panic.

But then he suddenly stopped. His eyes wandered to the side almost angrily and Beth dared to hope again that help had come.

"What the hell," she heard a low voice close to them and only seconds later the outline of another tall figure appeared in the entrance through which she had been dragged.

"Look who we have found," Hendrik said contemptuously grabbing Beth by her neck and pushing her to the other vampire who took a big step towards her thus stepping into the light of the moon. Lance.

For one heartbeat, he simply seemed to be surprised, and then a deep line formed between his brows clearly showing his annoyance. "Damn, Hendrik, don't you get it?" he said and the bewilderment grabbing Hendrik at these words allowed his grip around her neck to weaken.

"But ..."

"She's under Gabriel's personal protection!"

"But he... he's dead," Hendrik stammered and Lance features derailed.

"What?"  
"I saw him shot down ..."

"Where?" Lance grabbed Hendrik by the collar and pulled him close causing him to abruptly let go of Beth. She stumbled a few steps to the side, leaning quickly into the near wall to keep herself from falling. The power to run away she no longer had. And what chance did she have against the speed of a vampire?

"Outside, at the back of the house." Hendrik stammered.

Lance turned around immediately, but Beth was quick enough to still grab the sleeve of his coat. She knew that it was completely insane but she had only this one chance. Time went on relentlessly working against her.

"Please," she uttered imploringly as he stopped in his tracks and gave her an irritated look. "They have Josef and Mick."

The cold that was shown immediately in Lance's eyes shook her deeply, even more than the words that followed his contemptuous gaze. "Good. Then this battle will hopefully soon be over!"

He got rid of her with a jerk and disappeared into the darkness. Beth had no strength left. With a silent sob she went down to her knees and could no longer prevent the tears of despair from running down her heated cheeks. She didn't care that Hendrik and this other vampire were still behind her and now could do with her what they wanted. She had lost Mick to these cruel people and again couldn't help him.

"And there we are alone yet again," she heard Hendrik's lurking voices behind her and the next moment his hand reached into her hair tearing her in a very painful way back to her feet. Beth screamed and struggled, but the vampire just laughed and looked around for his friend begging for applause. He should not have done this because the next moment another powerful figure jumped on him from a different direction. Beth was whirled around and bumped her back into the wall and then fell to the side, stunned, but her body did not hit the ground. Two arms had grabbed her and pulled her away from Hendrik, who had freed himself from his attacker and now took a few steps backwards, irritated because his opponent stepped between him and Beth, snarling. A sob slipped from Beth's lips as she recognized Logan's curly head and then looked up into Seth's worried eyes.

"Don't you dare to touch her again!" Logan growled with an impressively deep voice and in doing so kept Hendrik from moving back towards her. Beth clung to Seth, who firmly closed his arms around her and held her on her feet because he felt explicitly that she could no longer do this on her own. Nor could she stop sobbing and crying softly.

"You're kidding!" Hendrik snapped after he had recovered from his initial shock, and now made a step toward her. "You want to mess with me? Because of _her_? She's only a human!"

Logan took a deep breath. "She belongs to the family!" he said with a trembling voice. "If you want to get to her, you must first get past me!"

Hendrik looked at him only for a split then he threw himself on Logan, snarling. They both crashed backwards against the wall. Hendrik seemed to be much stronger, but Logan fought with a ferocity no one would have credited him with, least of all his opponent who screamed loudly when Logan bit with all his might into his arm directly on the wound that Mick's teeth had left there and that was not yet fully healed.

Hendrik flung his head forward, slamming it against Logan's temple and then pushed the stunned young man away from him. A loud crash further back in the room testified that he had fallen to the floor. Beth could not see this, because Seth had pushed her behind his back and fearlessly bared his teeth with a snarl.

"You'd better leave, boy," Hendrik growled back and crouched to leap at him. "I'll get to St. John's little bitch, no matter what you do!"

"I hardly think so." The voice was soft and sharp, as sharp as the weapon that a split second later buzzed through the air and drove unimpeded through Hendrik's throat and neck. The vampire had no time to cry, to gasp or to even utter another sound. On his face there was only an expression of utter bewilderment. Then he got a slight kick in the back and fell forward head first. The loud rumbling caused Beth to wince slightly, but her eyes rested no longer on Hendrik, but instead full of disbelief on the large, broad-shouldered figure who stepped now into the light of the moon: Gabriel.

Beth's heart skipped a beat a second time, only to go on hammering painfully and transporting the oxygen she was breathing in only haltingly, through her body. Her inner tremors and her overwrought nerves made it extremely difficult for her to process what she was seeing, to understand that it was in fact Gabriel who now took a large step toward her, pushed Seth a little testily to the side and then eyed her up from top to bottom to be sure that she had suffered no serious injuries. But it was him. He was paler and tenser than before, but he lived... lived ... and could still fight... could still help!

'The Legion have Mick and Josef!' she wanted to scream, to grab him and force him to finally do something, but all that was coming from her lips was a deeply despairing sob, while the tears veiled her eyes again and ran down her cheeks unrestrained.

Gabriel grabbed her by the shoulders and held her, thus preventing her from collapsing powerlessly. His blue eyes held her gaze telling her that he understood, even without words.

"I know," he said firmly but gently. "Breathe deeply!"

Her body instantly obeyed. She felt how her chest widened and invigorating oxygen penetrated her tortured lungs.

"And once more."

Again she followed his instructions and strangely this seemed to instill a little more calmness inside her, seemed to push back her despair a bit.

"They shot at them!" she uttered and tried to blink away her incessantly running tears. "They're injured."

Gabriel's nod silenced her. "But not dead," he added.

"They... they will take him with them...," she sobbed again and the pressure of Gabriel's hands increased anew. From the side she saw Logan staggering towards them his gaze full of concern.

"She... she's talking about Mick, I think."

"I know," the old vampire replied, without turning his eyes away from her. "They won't get far," he said firmly. "Not if we all remain calm and focus on our next steps as best as we can."

Beth wanted to flinch when suddenly three other figures entered the house behind him, approaching quickly, but her body did not respond to her emotions. Instead a wave of relaxation seemed to wander from Gabriel's hands through her whole body and a slight drowsiness came over her mind as she got lost in the bright blue of this incredibly deep eyes.

"We'll bring back your friends," he said softly. "You will now calm down and gather your strength. Give your fear no attention. Just keep in mind we'll bring Mick back, because you _can_ do this, do you hear me? _We_ can do this!"

Beth nodded as if in a trance. Yes. They could. They could bring him back. She could trust Gabriel. With him everything was possible.

Slowly he released her, drew himself up to his full height and turned to Lance and Thomas, who had appeared together with Elizabeth at his side.

"Find out how many soldiers are still in this area - fast!" He ordered, and the two men set off without protest. Beth blinked dazed a few times. Her fear for Mick and Josef was still there, but not as tangible as before. The numbing calmness that had taken possession of her body, gave her the space to recover piece by piece.

Gabriel reached into the inside pocket of his coat and if she was not mistaken, pulled out a cell phone and then turned away from her. Elizabeth appeared in Beth's field of vision. She looked for a moment at Hendrik's head which rested next to Beth's feet with a contemptuous glance then pushed it with her foot a bit out of reach.

"It's about time this happened," she murmured, looked at Beth and tried for a sympathetic smile. "Has he done anything to you?"

Beth shook her head. She could not really concentrate on the strange-looking woman because her mind was trying to understand how Gabriel could still be alive and what he had done to her, while she was listening to his phone call.

He had said a foreign-sounding name and then had asked to her surprise, where this somebody was.

"Most of the troops are moving clearly toward the southwest," she could now hear him say, "So they have ordered the transport helicopter most likely to the Northeast. Keep your eyes open. But don't do anything without my orders."

Elizabeth had not attempted to continue the conversation with Beth, instead she gave Gabriel, who put the cell phone away again and closed his eyes for a moment, a worried look, approached him and gently touched his arm.

"You should rest," she said very softly and the way she looked at him told Beth that her relationship with this amazing man was far more intimate than it had previously seemed to be. The formal tone had totally disappeared. "If you exceed your strength it will ultimately harm us all."

"We have no time for breaks," Gabriel replied and Beth looked on, worried as his face twitched slightly as he took a deep breath in order to address her again.

"The hypnosis will subside soon, but don't let panic assail you again. You're nerves can't take it and you will be no help to Mick. Even worse, you might make him do even more irrational things. There is no reason to despair now. Okay?"

His questioning gaze made her nod although she felt the tension inside her grow again.

"I don't know exactly how or when this has happened, but somehow he has built a very strong mental connection with you which lets him feel when you're in a bad state or in need. Normally this doesn't work very well between humans and vampires, but with you..." He shook his head with a small smile while Beth still hadn't realized quite what he was telling her. "Something like this can be helpful but also very problematic," he continued, "especially when someone cannot completely control himself or his own strength. To make this clear: Your panic also causes panic in him. And he doesn't need that in his current situation. He has to calm down and regain his strength. So try to curb your fears and to impart the feeling that you're doing well, especially when we get near him. I don't know if he can feel you now, but if we take up the pursuit, he will. And then you need to have your nerves under control. Can you do that?"

Beth inhaled a bit shakily, but then nodded. Just the thought that they would try and search for Mick to free him and Josef gave her courage again, brought a bit of hope back to her, hope for a reasonably happy ending of this whole story.

"Well," Gabriel said, and reached for his cell phone anew. "Let's see where they plan to take them."

* * *

At a certain point the pain no longer affected me. How could it for I had the feeling that my whole body was ablaze and one layer of skin after the other was slowly peeling off. Of course, the soldiers had been anything but sensitive. Five melting bullets they had cut with their machetes out of my flesh, so that in addition to the burning paralysis caused by the silver an immense thirst for blood was also tormenting me. A thirst none of the highly active blood production factories in my area wanted to appease. My lips were chapped and my skin got hotter and hotter with every minute that passed. Still, it was not my own state which caused me the greatest concern. It was my best friend's pale face which I was searching for the hundredth time for a sign of life, for any stirring.

They had thrown us together in a jeep after they had quickly freed us from the pesky silver bullets and were driving with us now out into nowhere. I knew this because I could hear in spite of my strongly benumbed senses that the noise of battle diverged from us more and more. We drove across the uneven terrain. Stones and soil dents again and again shook the body of the car and caused me to screw my face up in pain. I would have been glad if Mick would have shown a similar reaction, for this would have proved that he had come to his senses, that he was slowly recovering, but there was nothing. His body rocked back and forth but not because he used his own muscles. I could not even tell if he breathed at all for my view was too blurred and the whistle in my ears too loud. If that Gallagher had injected him with an overdose and he now died just inches away from me, hardly one of those mindless fighting machines that sat enthroned above us on the bench would notice it. Gallagher himself had suddenly disappeared with one of the other jeeps after he had received a radio message. He had given me a triumphant grin which had caused quite a bad feeling in my stomach.

All things considered, our current situation seemed to be pretty hopeless. In our ATV were eight heavily armed men. Not one of our friends had noticed that we were delayed so no one would even look for us soon, especially when everyone else was involved in hard battles. I myself was, because of the high quantities of silver in my body, completely paralyzed and would probably die in the next few hours to a circulatory collapse and Mick... Mick was not even responsive. The only person who probably would have been able to do anything in this situation was Gabriel, and I was 99.9 percent sure that he had been the one that had been hit by several bullets just before the legionnaires had overwhelmed us. I was not sure if he was still alive. I couldn't feel him anymore.

When I thought about it more, I'd never in my whole life gotten into a situation that had been so hopelessly deadlock. In fact it could not possibly get any worse.

Somewhere behind me a radio crackled. It was not easy, but when I concentrated on it, I could understand what was said behind me.

"Ritchcroft here," a tinny voice pierced my ear and a wave of hate flashed through my battered, useless body. "Gallagher said he had given the target person into your hands. Is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Is he still tranquilized?"

"He makes no sound, sir. Gallagher has given him a proper charge. He won't move any time soon."

"Good. What about the professor?"

"Team Blue said that they had caught him somewhere near the house. But they were not sure if it was really the professor. So Gallagher has gone there."

I closed my eyes. It was apparently indeed getting worse. So now even the professor...

"We'll see. I will be at the destination in a few minutes. How long do you need?"

"Not more than five to ten minutes."

"Good."

Crackling. The conversation was over and I in fact felt a little worse than before. Nevertheless, or perhaps _because_ of that a chuckle struggled from my terribly dry throat. How could one have so much bad luck?

"Hey! What's so funny?" A foot kicked roughly into my back - a joke against the persistent pain, which tormented my body otherwise.

Another kick. "I'm talking to you!"

"Leave it, Charlie," came from the opposite side. "He'll soon bite the dust anyway. Maybe that was not even a laugh but a groan."

"Are you sure that _this_ one here is still alive?" Another foot bumped against Mick's shoulder. "He hasn't made a sound for quite a long time now."

"Prick him a bit," I heard another soldier suggest smirking. "You're usually so quick with the knife, Stan."

"Yeah, that's great and when he squeaks we'll know he still feels something."

General laughter rang out around us and I gritted my teeth for I knew very well that my seething anger was pointless.

"Am I to…?" came the enjoyed question and one of the soldiers opposite me bent so far down to Mick that he got into my field of vision. He had already unsheathed his knife and held it to Mick's cheek looking up to the others, grinning. Unfortunately the jeep just at this moment took a little jump and the sharp blade slid over Mick's cheek leaving a deep, bloody cut in his skin.

"Oops!" the man exclaimed and the rest of the troop laughed again, while my stomach contracted convulsively. Mick had shown no reaction.

I was not the only one who noticed. Right behind me one of the soldiers got down to his knees, reached over me and put his finger on Mick's carotid artery. He drew back terrified.

"Shit, man," he exclaimed in horror. "He's dead! Hank, stop the car!"

The jeep came to a stop abruptly along with my own heart. That could not be, could not be! Not after everything that we had been through, everything that we had suffered.

Another soldier leaned forward and felt Mick's pulse.

"Fuck, he's already quite cold! Why did nobody notice this?"

"What should we do? Ritchcroft will freak out!"

General unrest broke out while I struggled to keep breathing at all. The iron claw was back, squeezing my chest painfully, but only for an instant, because my stillness gave me an edge over the excited arguing and accusing soldiers. I was forced to continue to look into Mick's face and to note something that had escaped all the others: the fresh wound on his cheek was closing. Not as fast as with a vampire who was in full possession of his powers, but it's healing was clearly visible. If I had been able to, I would certainly have flinched, because only a split second later I was staring into a pair of blue-white, murderous eyes. Then everything happened incredibly fast. Mick performed within a few seconds several powerful, incredibly precise movements: He came to his knees, grabbed the still armed hand of the knife artist which hung carelessly at his side and while rising slammed the blade into the throat of the surprised soldier opposite him and crashed his elbow against Stan's nose with such force that it drove the nasal bone into his brain and the man fell backwards out of Jeep.

I managed to turn my head far enough that I could watch as Mick grabbed the first gun that was pointed at him by the barrel and pushed it away so that the shot hit not him but another one of the soldiers aiming at him and also carried him out of the Jeep. With a quick twist he was behind the shooter and his teeth dug immediately into his neck. The man screamed like a stuck pig and tormented by pain pressed harder on the trigger. His comrades shouted and shot then jumped in panic from the jeep and the next moment Mick was gone. I had no alternative but to build breathlessly on my hearing. The many shots frightened me for it was obvious to me that they would eventually hit their aim. There were just too many well-trained men Mick was tangling with at once. No matter by what miracle he had recovered, how he had been able to get this narcotic cocktail out of his body he had already lost much blood and could not be nearly as strong as at the beginning of the battle. But the cries of pain which resounded were not his. I winced violently, as a strong hand suddenly grabbed my leg and the next moment I was pulled backwards out of the jeep and into the very unpleasant embrace of an anxiously sweating and panting soldier. The man was struggling to keep me upright for I had no control over my body, but he still managed to press a large knife to my throat.

"I'll kill him!" he shouted into my ear. "I'll cut off your friend's head!"

A noise behind us caused him to turn around but it was only one of his comrades who came stumbling back to his feet and hurriedly picked up his rifle from the ground.

"Where is he?" he hissed and looked around frantically. It had become oppressively silent around us. There was only the big jeep in front of us and the last two soldiers who were still standing. Mick had done a good job. How quickly luck could turn. I could hardly believe it myself.

"Fuck! Where is he?" the soldier repeated even more hysterical than before.

Somewhere in the distance I could hear engine noise. Another jeep was approaching us. My heart began to beat faster and I prayed inwardly that my friend was smart enough to disappear in time. With me as a burden he would not get far and basically they were all only after him, anyway.

The dark outline of a man appeared for a brief moment on the side of the jeep and the soldier next to my captor fired without hesitation letting his machine gun rattle off so that the bullets flew almost everywhere. For the two men it was only about surviving now. The instructions to keep Mick alive no longer concerned them. But this attack was unsuccessful, in contrast to the next. Like a dark monster Mick launched himself from the other side, grabbed the armed soldier, carried him off his feet and dug his teeth into his shoulder. The man roared like an animal and tried to get Mick off his back while trying to hoist his weapon, but he failed. Mick hit his arm with such brutality that I heard bones splinter, as he simultaneously plunged his teeth into the man's throat. That was all I could still see as I went to the ground because the other soldier simply dropped me to come to his friend's aid.

I wanted to warn Mick, to scream, but my vocal cords obeyed my will as little as the rest of my body obeyed it. I could only watch as the man pulled his knife high in the air to ram it with a vengeance into Mick's back. But from another direction a dark shadow launched itself at him, growling, and a mouth with sharp teeth opened wide and only seconds later were dug into the soldier's wrist while the heavy body of the furry monster carried the man off his feet. Mick's head flew around. His mind seemed to grasp faster than mine what was happening next to me because a cold smile soon showed on his face while I had a hard time trying to blink, confused by it all.

Mick gave a low, animal sound and the monster of a dog that had launched itself at the last soldier immediately let go of him and dutifully stepped back a few steps, growling threateningly as the man sat up panting, while frantically groping for his knife on the ground. In slow motion Mick crouched down next to Monster, his eyes fixed on his victim with a tilted head. I could not understand why he allowed himself so much time, because I could hear that the other jeep was coming closer. Even if Monster had come at just the right moment, he was certainly no real secret weapon against the heavily armed men of the Legion.

The soldier had now found his knife and held it threateningly toward my friend. His gaze slid over to me. I was laying just an arm's length away from him in the sand but he dared not to use me again as a hostage for he knew that Mick would be much faster than him. So he waited for his advancing comrades.

'Run, Mick! Run!' I cried in my heart, but he did not seem to hear me, even allowed himself to retire from his agitated vampire state.

"You injected me and Josef with something earlier," he said softly and his voice was so incredibly cold that an unpleasant shudder ran down my spine. "Something that has curbed the spread of the silver. Where is it?"

In my mind it started to come back. It was quite dark but I could remember something piercing my arm, shortly after the bullets had been removed and I had been close to a pleasant faint. Mick was right. And, damn it, why could he remember? He had been completely unconscious... hadn't he?

The soldier looked at him incredulously. Then he started to laugh. "Do you seriously believe that I..."

Mick was so fast that the man did not even have enough time to recoil. Mick's fingers in the next moment dug into his neck with such force that his eyeballs were nearly squeezed from their sockets and he uttered a rattle that sounded really serious. Where his knife suddenly had gone, I did not know. My senses had concentrated much more tightly on the engine noise behind me, on the menacing screech of brakes. I closed my eyes, my heart pounding wildly in my chest. This couldn't be good...

"Are you okay?" an excited voice asked in Spanish and I tore my eyes open full of disbelief. Rapid footsteps behind me, then someone grabbed my shoulder and turned me on my back. The relief that came over me as I looked into Manolo's worried face was almost impossible to describe with words. No new enemies! Just friends, helping, terribly worried friends.

"Dios mio, what have they done with him?" Manolo uttered horrified. "He's going to die!"

Someone fought loudly for air. Then it sounded, as if something was dragged across the sand, and Mick appeared in my field of vision dragging the stunned soldier behind him.

"He won't," he exclaimed tensely, grabbed the man's arm and brought his wrist in front of my mouth, close enough that I could dig my teeth without hesitation into his artery. Fortunately, the muscles of my jaw still worked and I started to drink in great, hasty gulps. This was not a moment too soon.

Probably Mick had given the soldier such a powerful blow to the skull that he felt nothing at all because he was unable to even begin to struggle against the involuntary blood donation, just lay there breathing heavily. Mick was gone from view and when he returned after a few minutes he held a small bag. I already felt the first ghosts of life stirring in me again.

"Madre Dios!" This was Alejandro. He also appeared at my side now. "José... Will he make it?"

Mick did not answer, just grabbed me after I had taken a few more strong draws of blood, wrapped one of my arms around his shoulders so that my teeth broke involuntarily from the arm of the stunned soldier, and pulled me up. The pain was too great for me to be able to suppress the groan that came from my heart of hearts. Damn, not really willing to heal bullet wounds!

"Manolo," Mick nodded to the young Mexican who understood at once, followed my friend and me with his father back to the jeep.

With rapid movements the three men succeeded in maneuvering me into their vehicle causing more painful sounds from me. Despite the throbbing pain and the hum and whistle in my head I could once again hear engine noise from a distance and this time I was certain that these were not friends. Mick and the others seemed to see it the same way as they cast worried looks to one another. Just before Alejandro started the engine and drove off at a rapid tempo, Monster had landed with a large leap beside me and looked at me with his big brown eyes so lovingly that he almost frightened me. I was really thankful for the beast's last action, but that he had to lap with his wet tongue across my face as an expression of affection, I would have loved to been spared from in my desolate condition. Mick missed my misery completely. He concentrated on taking several small bottles from the little bag, screwing them open, smelling at them briefly and putting them away again. Only the third seemed to appeal to him, for his face brightened noticeably. His eyes flew over the short inscription on the label and he gave a brief nod.

"What exactly happened to him?" Manolo asked. "Why are his wounds not healing?"

"They filled him up with silver – that's what happened." Mick pulled out a needle and a syringe from his pocket and filled it halfway with the compound.

"Only him?"

Mick did not answer but thrust the needle into my neck and injected me with the compound. I would have liked to ask if he knew what he was doing, but only a faint croak slipped from my lips. After all, that was a start. Moaning and croaking were now already possible.

"Silver doesn't hurt me as much as the others," Mick responded. "It has something to do with my changed genetics. Frank explained it to me one day, but I still don't understand it in the whole." He looked at the young Mexican and frowned.

"How did you escape from the Legion?"

"We were warned in time."

"By Logan?"

"No. By Malik."

Mick's face was one big question mark and probably mine would have looked the same if I had been in control of my facial expressions yet. The tingling sensation that seemed to spread from my neck all over my body told me that my friend had indeed found the right medicine and it would not be long before I could move the first muscles.

"He came with six other men to the house and overpowered us," said Alejandro from the driver's seat. "But only to get us away just in time. He told us a certain Gabriel had given him the mandate to do just that if the Legion was advancing and that we would all be on one side."

"Were the men all vampires?" Mick probed and Manolo nodded eagerly.

"What surprised us was the fact that they didn't intervene when the fighting began. And not only that, they also asked us to do the same and declared that we should wait until Gabriel called again if we don't want to risk something happening to you. Their order would be to allow the withdrawal and that would now also be our job."

"Where are they now?"

"Somewhere out here in the open. They're all searching like mad for you because they didn't know exactly where you were being taken. We certainly did not expect to find you, and I think we would also have been left stranded without Monster."

"Have I… even to... be grateful… to the dog," I finally managed to utter with some trouble and Mick's head immediately flew around me. I could see how one big part of his tension fell off his body like a heavy load.

"How do you feel?" his worried question instantly slipped from his lips. His gaze roamed over my wounds and further relief was shown in his eyes. I could feel what he saw: My wounds began to close. Slowly, but they did.

"Is that... a joke?" In fact, I was able to cause my eyebrows to wander towards each other.

A soft chuckle escaped Mick, but his face soon became serious again. "Don't do anything like that ever again, Josef," he said softly. "Your life is not worth less than mine."

"Ditto," I only replied and for a long moment we just looked at each other, grateful that we had gotten off that lightly and still had each other. I could not even believe it myself. It was like a miracle. A miracle that did not last long, for now from somewhere I could hear the loud roar of a helicopter.

"Joder!" burst out of Manolo.

"Manolo!" his father rebuked him once, but immediately stepped on the gas a bit more.

"Drive over there to the rock! Over there!" the young man cried against the wind and then crouched down beside me to grab hold of one of the benches. The jeep made a few adventurous leaps and I was brought, against my will and at the expense of my slowly becoming more sensitive ass, to a relatively upright position. That even the huge dog landed halfway on my lap - I was not sure if he just took advantage of the situation - was still far less beautiful. He looked like he was about to grin, just before his tongue slipped again across my face. At least I was able to lift my still very numb arms far enough to push the animal off me again.

The car jolted a few times, then it stopped with a jerk so that my head banged painfully against the seat. Slightly dazed, I noticed that Manolo with Mick's help was finally able to pull out a tarpaulin which was rolled up under the bench. His father rose, climbed over the seats to us and helped him to spread it over the car and us. That made it nearly impossible to discover us from above in the darkness of the night and that was a good thing, for just a few seconds later the roar of the helicopter was so loud that I was very sure that it was now just above us.

I saw Alejandro folding his hands, his eyes closed, and quietly beginning to pray. His son joined him, and over the head of the panting dog, who of course, had settled down right between us, I exchanged a worried look with Mick. We all knew one thing: for the soldiers above us we were only really invisible if they did not have thermal imaging cameras on board.

* * *

Beth really tried to keep her nerves steady and to stay as calm as possible as she stepped together with the other vampires out of the house. But she found it damn hard not to think about where Mick and Josef were now, how they were and whether they really had a chance to quickly wrest the two out the hands of the Legion. Her concern was just so great, although she was able to push it, together with her paralyzing fear, back as far as possible for Mick's sake. Gabriel had advised her to not even consider a negative outcome to the whole situation, but to assume that they could free their friends in any case, but that was easier said than done. Even with Gabriel at her the side she was not able to really fight this oppressive feeling in her chest. It stayed, no matter how optimistic she tried to be. But perhaps it was enough if it didn't grow, if Mick just knew she was not injured and at the side of the few people who could protect her effectively.

As if Gabriel had read her thoughts, he gave her a confident smile and then walked ahead of the group towards the back of the house. Beth was not surprised that there they also found Lance and Thomas and only a little later a Jeep stopped in front of them. She had heard that Gabriel had requested these vehicles on the phone and decided that when this was all over and they had enough time, she wanted to find out how all these strange stories were linked to each other. The old vampire had not been as honest with them as he had initially feigned to them and it seemed as if he had certainly not traveled alone to Mexico. Nevertheless, this fact could hardly shake Beth's confidence in him. There was very little that could now do this after he had thrown himself protectively in front of her and had caught several bullets for her. Whatever made her so important to him, her life was in good hands with him.

The jeep was a typical military vehicle, intended for the transport of people with an open top. Three men were sitting in it already, but only the co-driver got out, a tall, dark-haired man with high cheekbones and a neat short beard around his mouth. His dark skin, the bright green-brown eyes and the cut of his face reminded Beth somewhat of a Bedouin - only the turban was missing.

Gabriel greeted him with a short nod and then talked with him on a foreign language. If she was not mistaken, it was indeed Arabic.

"There are also vampires_ there_?" she could hear Seth ask behind her in total amazement.

"Sure," Logan replied quietly. "I've even met an Eskimo vampire once."

"Don't say Eskimo," Seth took the time to correct his friend and Beth had to smile despite the tense situation. "You have to say Inuit-vampire."

"I _don't _have to, bighead!" Logan growled back in a hushed voice.

"Don't get mad at me."

Seth fell silent, because Gabriel now turned to them. However, he did not look at the two young vampires but at Thomas and Lance.

"We should try to get the others together again and then get as many as possible away from here. As far as we can tell, most of the continuing combat is taking place between the various groups of the Legion. We should use this to our advantage before reinforcements arrive for either one or the other side and they again have time to focus on us."

"That means we should look for the others and then bring them here?" Thomas asked, while one could tell that Lance was anything but fond of this idea. To describe his expression as grim was an understatement.

"Not right here," Gabriel replied. "Bring them to the Northeast. It won't be hard to find us there."

Thomas nodded understandingly and set into motion immediately, while Lance followed him only very reluctantly. Beth noticed that Gabriel looked after him for a moment and shook his head with mild irritation.

"That family...," she could hear him murmur then he turned around, climbed gracefully into the jeep and cast a requesting glance at her and the others. Logan and Seth reacted faster than her, but since they seemed to somehow feel responsible for her since the incident in the house, she was quite simply pushed forward and lifted up onto the jeep without having to use her own strength to climb onto it. The jeep drove off before her buttocks had touched the seat and she fell halfway onto Logan's lap.

"Oops-a-daisy!" he said quietly and helped her to sit down properly. A slightly embarrassed smile appeared on his lips while his cheeks got suspiciously red for a vampire. Beth wrinkled her forehead, but had no time to think about it because Gabriel, who had taken a place on her other side, drew her attention.

"Malik and the others think they have found traces of several off-road vehicles which are on the way to the northeast," he explained, "but they could not determine whether Josef and Mick were on one of those cars."

Beth nodded understandingly and swallowed hard. If the Legion carried Mick and Josef off in a jeep and later moved them to a helicopter, it would be pretty hard to catch up with them in time.

"This is not the only car that is searching for them, Beth," Gabriel reacted to her, as if she had just had an open talk with him. "I've hidden four jeeps out here. And now they are all on the way. The only problem is that our radio contact is disturbed by the Legion and it is risky to communicate by radio because we could be bugged at any time. So I can not tell if one of my teams has found them yet. But the chances are quite good."

Beth wanted to believe him, but the turmoil within her grew more and more. All this took so long, burned up so much time... time that they didn't have.

From somewhere in the distance shots suddenly were heard, and Gabriel looked tensely in the direction the noise came from, inhaled deeply and closed his eyes briefly. As he opened them again, she knew there was trouble. Malik glanced over to him, caught Gabriel's slight nod and then floored the gas pedal. The jolt threw Beth against Logan again. He grabbed her quickly and looked over to Gabriel tensely. Beth soon understood why. The old vampire was a whole lot paler than before and gritted his teeth so strongly that she could see his cheek muscles twitch under the skin.

Elizabeth, who was sitting opposite him, bent forward to him visibly worried and laid her hand on his knee.

"This can't continue for long if you don't drink some blood soon," she urged him. But he avoided her eyes and gritted his teeth even more firmly.

"If your powers keep subsiding, it will be impossible to find Mick," Elizabeth remained stubborn. "You _need_ to drink something!"

Her gaze slid for the breath of a second over to Beth, but everyone present knew immediately what she meant. Beth's throat tightened and her heart made a small leap. But Gabriel's turmoil was much bigger. He sucked in his breath sharply, swiped Elizabeth's hand away from his knee with a gesture of deepest contempt and glared at her furiously.

"Don't you dare to make such a proposal ever again," he growled in such a threatening way that even Beth felt animated to slide away from him a bit.

Elizabeth did not look as if she was frightened by Gabriel's reaction; however she definitely looked hurt, pulled back and stared at the shaking floor of the jeep.

For a while there was silence in the vehicle, a silence that was not good for Beth's mind as it led her to worry again about things she actually shouldn't think about, and roused again the fear for Mick that she had only been able to suppress with great difficulty. Elizabeth's words were anything but reassuring, for they told her that even Gabriel did not necessarily have the situation under as much control as he would have liked.

The now rapidly approaching noise of battle frightened her additionally and accelerated her heart beat one more time. Nevertheless, she was surprised when the car stopped before they could see the combatants.

Gabriel turned around to her, but for a second time looked past her instead at Logan and Seth.

"You both are to remain at her side and protect her with all powers available for you," he pointed to the two younger and now very nervous-looking vampires. "If even more people from the Legion come, you are all to disappear from here instantly!"

Logan and Seth nodded in sync.

"And you." Gabriel's penetrating gaze fell on her face after all, "you'll do nothing on your own! Is that clear?"

It was hard for her, but she was able to nod, too. This seemed to be enough for Gabriel, because he stood up in one smooth motion and jumped with a flowing cloak and drawn sword from the car. The other vampires followed him without him needing to exchange a word with them. Beth could hear them cocking their weapons and then they sprinted off toward the enemy, barely visible across the barren land.

Beth folded her hands, bowed her head and pressed her lips against her index fingers. The fear was back and caused her to rock back and forth as she began to pray again. Fate had to help her once again... _had to_ - just this once! It had to give Mick back to her! Life just could not be so unfair...

She raised her head frightened as she could hear loud engine noise in the sky, and there they were, silhouetted against the light of the moon like giant dragonflies on the prowl. Two helicopters and at least one of them was in its final descent not far away from the spot where the battle raged. Beth knew immediately what these machines arrived for: They were here to carry Mick away!

She jumped to her feet without thinking and was down from the jeep before Logan and Seth had registered at all what she was about to do. She ran off, driven by her panic and anxiety, which now rose unimpeded and became the mainspring of her act.

* * *

Sometimes minutes could stretch so much that they felt like hours, then again, they dwindled to a split second and forced you to act without thinking. These time-distortion-factors were much worse when they happened in quick succession.

The helicopter rotated several minutes over the rocky landscape in which we had hidden and made it impossible for us to move or communicate about our next steps. I was almost sure that we had been discovered, when suddenly it turned away and disappeared in quite a hurry into the dark night.

Manolo and his father breathed a sigh of relief. Mick and I, however, remained tense. My senses had come back enough that even I could feel this strange tingling of energy in the air - a tingling sensation that told us that someone was sneaking up on us.

"Get out!" Mick whispered to our Mexican friends, grabbed me by the waist and threw himself around with me and finally down from the jeep. Dog and plane flew with us and also Manolo and Alejandro landed very elegantly for humans behind the car. Not a second too soon, because the next moment several machine guns rattled off and riddled the other side and the entire interior of the car.

"Seems as if they're quite angry," I noted dryly, when the fire on us fell silent again, and we could hear the sounds of several boots on sandy soil. They came closer and then stopped again. I tried to turn a little to perhaps take a look over the Jeep, but my body did not want to obey and I fell forward. Manolo's outstretched arm quickly pushed me back to the cold metal of the car. The slightly embarrassed smile which was on my lips was actually addressed to Mick, but in his place only the dark rock next to me showed me its cold shoulder.

"What ...?" I shook my head with a mixture of anger and concern. "He _always_ must do everything _alone_!" I added growling. When this was all over, I would take my friend thoroughly to task. All his new powers aside, to think so little about his next steps hid an extreme risk.

Manolo got to his knees next to me and peered cautiously over the top of the jeep. Almost in the same moment Alejandro and I grabbed him by both arms and pulled him back down as the next load of silver bullets hissed over our heads and bored into our maltreated vehicle. Manolo's anxious gaze wandered frantically around our proximity.

"Where's Monster?"

Even the dog had vanished into thin air. Probably he meant to help Mick somehow and had followed him. Stupid animal!

"Well, great," I grumbled, a little jealous and inwardly struggling against the superiority of worries, "Batman and Robin on a lonely mission..."

"You stay here and shoot at everything that moves," I now heard Alejandro's low voice. The Mexican got into a kneeling position and took his gun firmly into both hands. "I know what they're up to." With that he quietly disappeared into the darkness, leaving me and his son with open mouths.

"Looks like Two-Face gets in on the act, as well," it slipped quietly from Manolo's lips and the slightly bitter undertone in his voice made me prick up my ears. However, I didn't have much time to think about it. For once again suspicious noises resounded from the other side and I signaled Manolo that it was better to lie down flat. It made me feel a bit like I was in a twisted world as Manolo got down in a smooth motion and at once took up his gun while I slumped down awkwardly, because my arms could still not really support my body. Damn silver!

We peered tensely through the gap between the car and the ground and tried simultaneously to pay attention to the noises in our surrounding environment which could tell us what Mick and Alejandro were doing out there. But it stayed amazingly silent.

"When you see their legs, try to shoot at their knees," I hissed to Manolo and the boy nodded immediately. Although he outwardly gave a remarkably calm impression the rapid beating of his heart and the increased output of adrenaline impregnating the air around him told me that the young man was under enormous stress and terribly frightened. He had certainly never experienced such a situation... at least not since this thing with Federico Sanchez and then he had still been a toddler. Hard to imagine that he could still remember it.

He winced visibly when not too far away from us a hoarse scream was heard. Shots echoed through the air, this time not close to us, more to the side and behind us, but in different places. Manolo now looked quite scared. He had turned around a little and all the color had faded from his face which was distorted with fear. It was no wonder, for it was his father who risked his life for us. The fact that he was a proven guerrilla fighter and knew the actions of the Legion better than anyone else, the boy could not know. And he'd forgotten his own job in this matter.

There they were, the men who came into our proximity. I could see their boot-clad legs which were moving toward us much too rapidly. Fortunately, my own body was working better and better. Within seconds I snatched Manolo's gun, aimed and fired. The cry of pain was shrill for my bullet had precisely hit its target and had the first of our attackers carried off his feet. Only now life seemed to awake in his companions and they were shooting like mad again as they continued to storm towards our vehicle. Cold determination grabbed me, the one which was so typical for us vampires, this calmness which made us such deadly creatures. My movement sequences were fast and precise. Another man went to the ground screaming while the other took off and leaped onto the jeep. I turned onto my back, waited for a millisecond with the weapon raised and shot the moment the outline of the soldier was directly above me. He did not even have time to scream. It was more a muffled gargle he uttered, for the bullet had gone through his throat. Then he fell, head down, between Manolo and me.

Again I turned and shot at just the right moment, because one of the already injured men had lain down flat, aimed his gun at us and had been just about to curl his finger on the trigger when the bullet of my gun dug directly into his forehead. He collapsed and showed no signs of life. Further in the background one of his comrades crept moaning behind a large rock. He was injured too seriously to lead off the fight alone and I was sure that he would breathe his last in the next ten minutes. So I took the time to close my eyes briefly and inhale deeply. There were no other suspicious sounds to be heard around us.

Manolo's faltering breath prompted me to lift my eyelids again. He stared wide-eyed at the soldier between us who took his last gasp while my own gaze got greedier and greedier. The blood which oozed from the hole in the man's throat smelled so tempting, promised so much joy and power... and I was still so terribly hungry.

Manolo looked at me and then swallowed hard. "I... I'll just look away," he stammered. As he turned away he also put a hand to his eyes to really avoid watching me taking my little snack. My hands moved forward all by themselves and I grabbed the still-warm body of the soldier, dragging him up to me and dug my teeth into his neck. The blood was tasty, warm and full of adrenaline and gave me exactly the kind of strength I needed for this situation. I closed my eyes and tried to get as much blood as I could from the limp body. New blood was no longer being produced because the man's heart had just stopped beating.

"There... there's no more sound," Manolo said without looking at me. "Is this a good or a bad sign?"

I detached myself reluctantly from my meal and listened into the darkness.

"I hope it's good," was my not very detailed answer and the young Mexican turned to me yet again.

"Can ... can't you feel it… somehow?"

I closed my eyes for another moment trying to focus my senses... and yes, there it was a human scent so familiar to me which was coming slowly closer. I gave Manolo an encouraging smile and the boy understood me without words and heaved a sigh of relief.

I was taken aback when a different scent came to my nose. Blood, but not that of a man, though I could now clearly smell Mick as well. Alejandro, who was now in sight, gave me the answer to my unasked question by uttering a worried "Monster!" and storming past us. Manolo jumped up in horror and I got up as well a little unsteadily, now understanding what had caused these emotional outbursts. Mick carried the big dog in his arms, and the animal uttered a faint whimper with every step he took. The fur on his hind leg was soaked in fresh red blood and the dog gave a very limp impression. To my own annoyance, I felt a small sting and something like concern welling up inside me. My nerves were indeed very weak at the moment... Such a fuss because of an animal!

Mick had now reached the jeep and got to his knees before me with the animal to lay it down carefully. When the dog directed his faithful eyes to me and in his state he still managed to wag his tail, my stomach contracted painfully.

"Is... is it very bad?" I asked softly and probably voiced Manolo's fears. He was constantly scratching Monsters broad skull and seemed to be worried sick.

"For _him_ for sure," was the disconcerting reply and now I noticed that Mick was far less concerned than any of the rest of us. "But he is a very sensitive animal."

Alejandro, who had just looked at the wound more closely, nodded approvingly. "This is just a grazing shot. He will survive it."

Manolo let out a relieved sigh, while my concern changed into great anger and I gave the heavily panting animal a dark look. In the meantime Mick raised his head again looking tense. Somewhere in the distance shots were heard. It seemed as if the fighting would not stop anytime soon, it is not a nice feeling when you know that there are still people out there who meant a lot to you. For the first time since I had my senses back, I realized we had left Beth and Frank alone. Mick's Beth... and I wondered how he had been able to stay so calm all this time. Usually, his concern for the woman he loved caused him to completely lose his head. Even I was slowly getting sick at the thought that she was alone out there. But Mick stayed calm.

"Manolo, try to start the car," he instructed, quickly grabbed the yelping dog and heaved him into the jeep. Manolo jumped into the driver's seat while Alejandro and I followed Mick's example and climbed into this wreck of a car. A miracle happened: the engine started immediately and Manolo turned to Mick with a questioning look.

"Drive to where the noise is coming from," my friend commanded now much more tense and I could feel that something important had happened somewhere there, something only he could sense for some reason.

The Jeep set into motion with a jerk. We quickly left the rocky terrain behind us and flew into the desert landscape towards the noise of battle and the roar of the helicopters not far from us. My eyes fastened on Mick's face. His inner turmoil grew from second to second. There it was again, the concern that so often made him blind to other things. So this was probably indeed about Beth. Mick had felt something. Something had happened, and the closer we got to the combat, the greater my concern became and the tightness in my chest grew worse. There on the horizon something large and dramatic was happening, and if we did not hurry we would be too late to do anything.

Of course, at that very moment the car started to cough and spit. It stuttered twice then the motor died down. The Jeep rolled a few feet until it stopped quietly.

Manolo desperately turned the ignition key but the engine uttered only a whimper. "The bullets must have hit the gas line."

I looked at Mick whose look of terror was aimed at the horizon and as I followed his gaze I understood the panic in his eyes. One of the helicopters which had made their rounds in the air not far away from us had gone into a spin and sagged dangerously towards the ground. Its fight with gravity only lasted a few more seconds before it flipped on its side, the rotor blades furrowing the ground, breaking off like matches and soaring away in all directions. The helicopter hit the ground with a shattering crash and then exploded in a red and yellow fireball.

"Beth..." It was just a faint whisper, but I knew what it meant and what would follow this small, innocent word. I did not take the time to verbally dispute with Mick, but reached instantly for him. At least I had planned to do that, but my fingers grasped at nothing. My friend was in his panic and anxiety capable of physical performances which where even eerie to me and what was much worse; he ran directly toward the burning inferno before us and none of us had even the slightest chance to stop him.

* * *

To develop a plan was really hard when you had no time for it and needed all your strength to move as fast as you could. If Beth was being honest, she had as a single person, as a weak, unarmed, unprotected human no chance to do anything against the fact that the Legion took Mick away from her. And yet she continued to run, run as fast as she could toward the two helicopters that had just touched down. She was still too far away to identify the persons running hectically around there in the distance shouting and firing and moving toward the metal insects. But she was able to recognize that someone was carried there, that the soldiers lifted the limp body of a person into one of the helicopters and then some of them climbed in as well.

Beth uttered a grim sound and quickened her pace again, ignoring the roaring of the jeep behind her. Even if she could not save Mick she would simply _force_ the soldiers to take her too. She could not let him down, could not subject him to these horrible men alone and helpless... not again! She was so determined, that even the shots and screams in the distance could no longer scare her. However, the Jeep behind her was close. Beth darted sideways but that was not enough. The car came from the side and cut off her path causing her to slow down as she tried to go around it. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Seth jumped out of the car and forced her tired legs to sprint off again. But she had no real chance against even such a young vampire as Seth. He caught her arm and pulled her back halfway behind himself at just the right moment, because exactly at the spot where she had just been standing the rapid firing of a machine gun whipped up the sand. Seth grabbed her by the waist and threw himself with her behind the jeep where Logan was already sitting in a crouched position. She had no strength to struggle against the grip of the two vampires. The lack of air made her head spin and the muscles of her legs trembled violently as they were not used to such overuse. Quite apart from that the shots had terrified her immensely and caused her, at least temporarily, to suppress her concern for Mick.

"Where... where did that come from?" Logan asked, horrified, and Seth shrugged his shoulders indecisively. He could not speak. He was scared stiff.

Beth focused on her breathing, trying to bring back more calmness and control into her body and to suppress her fear. But it was so terribly difficult after what she thought she'd seen by the helicopters. As if it had been a silent keyword the roaring of one of the machines now became a little louder and Beth was sure that the helicopter rose at once. She turned around and peered over the door of the jeep only to find that she was right. But it was not the helicopter in which they had loaded Mick. It was the other one, from which a soldier now began to fire into the darkness, shooting at an invisible but probably very frightening enemy. The other helicopter was still standing but its rotors also began to spin faster. They were going to disappear!

The panic was back but Beth had no chance to live it out. A louder bang echoed from somewhere. The helicopter in the air had been clearly hit, for the impact of the missile caused it to move considerably away. Then there was a small explosion on board, a jolt went through the machine and slowly, like a seriously wounded giant, the machine moved into a bad lateral position. Beth's eyes grew wider and wider as the machine was clearly moving toward their jeep in its death throes. She saw two men with machine guns who had been hiding not far away from them behind a small rock storm off in a panic. The rotor blades, already dug deeply into the sandy ground, broke through the immense resistance and hurled through the air. One of the sheer huge blades sailed directly toward her. She felt Seth and Logan seize her right and left arms and then she was torn away from the jeep, landing painfully on the hard ground.

The crash the blade caused by its flight into the Jeep was drowned by the blow of a deafening explosion. For a moment, the world around her was bathed in bright yellow and red. Intense heat blew over Beth's body, sand, stones and small metal parts fluttered down on her. Then it was over and Beth dared to breathe again and to turn around slowly. The carcass of the helicopter barely a hundred meters away from her had burned the dry vegetation around it and still exuded an almost unbearable heat. If it had claimed the lives of the two soldiers who had shot at them Beth did not know and she did not care. Her eyes had long since clung to something else that caused a painful tightness in her chest and caused her panic to grow anew. The other helicopter took off from the ground without hindrance. The combatants had almost reached it, but no one seemed to be able to stop it. In just a few seconds it was already several meters in the air.

Beth shook off her torpor, came painfully to her feet and ran off. "No... No," she uttered softly, and her throat began to constrict. That was not allowed to happen... not allowed...

"Mick! MIIIICK!" Her voice cracked and the world seemed to exist no longer around her. There was only this dark helicopter so far away from her rising much too quickly into the air, giving her no time, no chance to reach him somehow, no matter how fast her feet flew over the hard ground. It was the power of despair that drove her forward and allowed her to go far beyond the limits of her own body. Any reason in her was extinguished, her mind turned off. She saw that the helicopter was already much too high, knew that nothing could stop it anymore, that she had lost the battle for Mick, and still could not give up, didn't want to give up. The feeling inside her was so horrible, so unbearable that she just ran, had to run away from it. She noticed only marginally that there was a dark figure behind her, quickly catching up to her. Only when two strong arms grabbed her waist, held her and suddenly stopped her in her forward movement did the sounds of the outside world came back to her, could she hear the continuing shots and sounds of battle around her.

She gasped and uttered simultaneously a deeply despairing sob that shook her whole body. All the sadness, helplessness and fear now descended upon her... and this pain, this horrible, penetrating pain inside her... She collapsed, sobbing, and was only held upright by the arms wrapped tightly around her and the strong body behind her. Her whole body quivered and trembled as she let out her desperation, crying and sobbing.

"We will bring him back, Beth," she heard Logan's deeply moved voice at her ear. "We will bring him back. I promise you. I promise you!"

But Beth did not believe him, didn't have the strength to do so at this moment. It hurt so much, hurt so terribly that nothing was important in this world anymore. Nothing mattered anymore.

"Come on... we gotta get outta here. There're still too many soldiers on the move." Logan turned around with her, more carrying her than anything as she was unable to walk on her own. She had no more strength left and wasn't even able to breathe properly because her body had to struggle with the consequences of her breakdown. But Logan's strength was enough for both of them. Soon, Seth was by her side, casting anxious, compassionate glances at her. Not without reason, for Beth felt the urgent need to slump down, to just stay lying down and to not move again, to surrender completely to her exhaustion and the grief eating her up inside. It surprised her when Logan and Seth stopped suddenly on the spot and listened into the night. A strange feeling shot through her tired body.

"That's impossible," Logan breathed, and now Beth heard it too, someone called her name, desperate and worried. Her heart convulsed painfully, only to then jump into an unhealthy pace again.

"M... Mick?" she whispered, and tears she had believed she would no longer be able to cry filled her eyes, causing the dark outline of the figure several hundred meters away from her to blur. But still she was sure that the person was moving toward them, that he was running as fast as he could.

The sobs that now came from Beth's throat were even deeper than before but she freed herself from Logan and stumbled forward following her deep yearning and reawakening hopes. She knew that it could not be, could not believe that fate this time was probably well-disposed to her... but it was _his_ voice that cried for her again, _his_ familiar figure,_ his_ way of moving ...

Beth moved faster though she was hardly able to take a straight step. But her yearning for him was so great, swept all doubts aside and gave her one last burst of power.

"Mick!" she cried out hoarsely. Her voice didn't want to obey her any longer and the sobs shaking her body didn't make it easy to stay on her feet. But with every step she was taking, she grew more certain. She knew that it was him. She now saw his face, felt his sorrow and despair that was in no way inferior to hers, and cried even harder. He ran faster, stumbled, but caught himself and then he was there. Beth uttered a deep sob as he pulled her into his arms. They more fell into each other than embraced. She threw her trembling arms around his neck and pressed his head to her as tightly as she could, and felt that he was doing the same. She felt his chest expanding under a breath of profound relief, and felt him pressing his face into the hollow between her neck and her shoulder, breathing heavily. Again and again his hands roamed over her body, pressing her to him, as if he was afraid someone might wrench her from him, while she just clung to him and let her tears flow. After a few seconds he pushed her away, but only minimally, so that he was able to look into her face, to follow its contours with trembling fingers, as if he could not believe that it was her, that he had her back in his arms again, alive and healthy. She also clasped his face, leaned her forehead against his and closed her eyes for a moment, only to then again tear them open, searching his gaze.

"I... I thought you... they...", she brought out only haltingly and broke off, because he pressed his lips on hers, kissed her cheek, her forehead and then pulled her close to him again, so that her face pressed against his chest. Once more she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Around them it banged and crashed, but Beth did not care at that moment. It was only important that she had Mick back in her arms that she could listen to the rapid, rhythmic beating of his heart, which told her that he lived and was well. And slowly, the tears ran dry. She recovered her breath and was able to perceive something other than Mick. Such as the hurried footsteps behind them, the calls of people who were familiar and important to her. She raised her head a bit when she felt that Mick's firm grip loosened slightly, and looked past his shoulder. Her heart made a relieved leap and yet new tears flooded her eyes. Josef... her good, dear friend Josef. He looked sickly and quite damaged, but he was alive and at his side Alejandro was walking, his eyes full of concern.

"You two really have a penchant for dramatic performances," Josef commented almost in his usual manner and Beth let out a little laugh despite the still tense situation, before she threw her arms around his neck, enfolding her surprised and therefore quite stiff friend firmly in her arms.

"O... okay, I'm okay, yeah," he said somewhat awkwardly and held her away at arm's length. His gaze was no longer directed at her, but to a point behind her. His face brightened noticeably, and shortly thereafter she knew why.

"What about 'Stay here and don't do anything on your own' is so hard to understand?" That was Gabriel's voice and Beth turned just as relieved as Josef to the tall man approaching them with quick steps. Meanwhile, he also looked as if he desperately needed a breather as he was really pale and had rings under his eyes. They could almost compete with Mick's, who could not seem to stand straight anymore, but clearly staggered causing her concern.

"She has always had trouble with such instructions," he said with a tired smile and Beth stepped closer to him, wrapped her arm around his waist and tried to give him, under the guise of her own desire for physical contact, a little more stability, even though she herself had no real strength anymore. Worried, she realized that his body felt surprisingly warm. No wonder with this overexploitation of his physical strength. And if she was not completely mistaken, he was a human being again.

Gabriel took a deep breath and looked around briefly. "The Legion withdraws. But it is quite possible that they may soon call for back-up so we should disappear as quickly as possible. Malik will run interference for us with his guys." He nodded in a certain direction and immediately the small group around him set in motion.

"Why this retreat?" Josef voiced the question that was already sparkling on Beth's tongue.

Gabriel did not answer immediately. Beth saw that he clenched his teeth and had to draw a deep breath to announce the bad news.

"Because they are glad to have gotten at least a part of that what they came here for."

Beth swallowed hard. She knew what was coming, knew the words before they were spoken.

"They've taken the Professor," was Gabriel's response to the inquiring, anxious eyes of the others.


	59. Parting

_*__Hi there! Here's the chapter that's actually the last real one of the story, for the next on while be a much shorter Epilog. Hope your still like it and leave me a little comment. I so enjoyed the ones for the last chapter and was quite inspired to write on my sequel to Newborn and to also go on translating it. A big 'Thank you!' to SG6169 again for the great beta reading! You're really a big help. I'm back at Tuesday with the last bit of that story. Hope to see you all there again! Yours Jenna*_

_Especially the last part inspired by the song 'Save you' by Matthew Perryman Jones  
_

* * *

**P****arting**

* * *

_"To let go takes less strength than to hold on to, and yet it is more difficult."_

_Detlev Fleischhammel _

* * *

Sometimes it can be relaxing to just let your mind wander, to stare blankly into space and simply think of nothing at all. But unfortunately, this state usually lasts, for me, no more than a few seconds and still wouldn't provide me the relief I could certainly use right now.

I was tired, really exhausted, physically, mentally and emotionally. This whole fight, the terrible worries and strain of being on the run had done its job: I was at the end of my rope, and would remain this way for sometime, I was sure. The aftermath of this nightmare was also a contributing factor for even though we had escaped the Legion and had reduced their forces substantially by our resistance, this organization had not been destroyed. They would recover, just as we would. They would strike again, hunt us relentlessly, mainly for Mick. There would be no time to relax as we couldn't afford to stay in any one place for to long, and would probably be on the run for what seemed, at this moment, like an immeasurability long period of time - not a bright prospect.

To disappear from the desert had not been that difficult. Gabriel had been well prepared for our rapid escape and had indeed hidden his own helicopter in the vicinity of the farm; he had been able to fly us out of the war zone. We had continued on in several vehicles throughout the night and had found accommodations in a not too shabby motel whose owner worked with Alejandro and because of that, promised assured discretion. Gabriel himself had eventually disappeared, to try and find out how well the escape of the other vampires had gone. He had left no doubt that he would return. There was still a lot to be discussed with us.

That was fine by me. There were still a lot of problems to address and I certainly couldn't and didn't _want_ to cope with them alone especially in my current miserable state. The others seemed to feel the same. Seth and Logan had retired with a few packs of blood to one of the darker rooms after a cooling shower and tried to sleep. Alejandro and Manolo, who had arrived here only moments ago, since they had had to pick up Isabella from a small neighboring village, had also retired to their rooms to rest. Beth sat opposite me on the couch, had propped her head in her hand and was visibly struggling with the exhaustion that was threatening to overcome her. Again and again, her eyes would close, only to jerk them open again with all her might to see if Mick was still asleep. Mick, who was lying stretched out on the couch, his head reluctantly more than voluntarily rested on her lap. Her concern was unfounded, because my friend was really out of it, his limbs had gone limp and his chest rose and fell in a soothingly steady rhythm.

Nevertheless I understood Beth's concern, for I too had witnessed the drama that had taken place during the long drive to the motel. Mick had, after his human body had gradually shown signs of total exhaustion, suddenly come down with a fever and then painful seizures, which had put us all in a panic. Thanks to Gabriel's calm and quick thinking, we hadn't completely lost our heads and had been able to act rapidly. Not only did he have Frank's syringe bag with him, but also had the forethought to call August to get the information we needed for Mick's treatment. So my poor friend had not had to suffer too long and had finally calmed down after a couple of - admittedly - very painful minutes.

However, the whole situation made two very important things clear to us: To lose Frank to the Legion, was a blow that was not easily absorbed and at the moment forced us to improvise with regard to Mick's treatment. And secondly that Mick was not nearly as tough as everyone had assumed after his combat. His human body had not coped well with the stresses produced by the activities of his vampire side - especially since he had had to remain in this state for a long period of time. Not to mention the fact that I had no idea what had been in the compound Gallagher had injected him with and whether it had completely filtered from of his system yet.

For precisely that reason, Mick's refusal to go to the bedroom next door, to lie down in bed and sleep, at least for a few hours, had made me furious. It was clear why he was behaving so unruly, no matter how much his body screamed for sleep and rest. He simply did not want to be forced into the unwelcome role of a sick person, to be needy again and had rebelled against any form of mothering and care. Poor Beth had also felt some of the brunt of his behavior, although he did restrain himself a little more with her.

I understood his reasons, because I too hated to be dependent on others and would rather take matters my own hands. But this didn't alter the fact that we now, since Frank had been torn from our midst, had to be extra-careful concerning Mick's health situation. We could not afford to allow him more breakdowns and because of that, consume the precious meds. The stock was slowly running frighteningly low. And for this reason Mick's defiance with our attempts to get him to relax, was indeed inappropriate and exasperating. He had finally compromised, with the help of Beth's gentle coaxing, by stretching out on the couch, claiming that after all the excitement he wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway...

He lasted no more than thirty seconds before falling into a deep, dreamless sleep. Only then did I allow myself to finally relax a bit. I was now sitting here thinking of all that had happened to us and what was still to come and asked myself how we were going to get Frank back without putting ourselves into further danger.

My eyes took a path they had taken several times in the last few hours. They wandered from Beth's tired face over Mick's relaxed body toward the coffee table in front of me on which two things lay that would play a huge role in Mick's future: The syringe bag and Frank Peterson's notebook. Beth had shown me the book during a silent moment after Gabriel's departure. It had given me a bit of hope that we could perhaps get by without Frank. However, it was clear it was going to take awhile to read the book and determine what relevant information we would need from it - time we probably didn't have. Quite apart from the fact that none of us was a professional and Peterson, with his experience and specific medical knowledge of vampires, was virtually irreplaceable. When it came to the right medical care for Mick there was only one other person who was perhaps as closely versed as Peterson and I for one didn't want him in Mick's or my proximity.

I noticed from the corner of my eye that Beth jerked a little, so she had actually fallen asleep for a moment. When I looked at her, she gave me an embarrassed smile.

"Don't you want to lie down in the bedroom for awhile?" I asked softly, and knew that she would shake her head. She did not disappoint me.

"I know you, you won't wake me when Gabriel gets back," she whispered to me. "And I really want to join the upcoming meeting here."

I nodded understandingly. Of course that wasn't her only reason. Ever since her belief that she had lost Mick again in the desert, she was literally joined at the hip with him. She kept her eyes glued to him, watching every little stir of his body with great concern. She was driving him, as well me, slightly mad with this behavior, but she had not seemed to notice. Of course, my friend needed her closeness and came to rest beside her, but again and again her constant worry gnawed at his nerves and had caused him to take quite a harsh tone with her many times in the past few hours. She didn't seem to be shaken by this. She had developed an amazing ability to ignore such things and remained completely calm. An ability I had lost a long time ago.

For a few heartbeats there was silence in the room and I thought she had fallen asleep again - until I heard her quietly breathing in.

"Josef..." Her voice was unusually hesitant and caused me to listen attentively. "There's something..." She stopped, but after a brief moment of reflection started to speak again. "When Frank was telling me at the very beginning about all these things involving the vampire myth, about how vampires are created and how they... well, how they reproduce, he said that... that within the transformation process of a human into a vampire it doesn't really matter if you're bitten, but rather that the blood of a vampire gets into your body..."

Her wide eyes looked at me quizzically while I just frowned blankly. I didn't really understand why this should matter to her that much. However, I brought myself to answer to her question.

"Basically, he's right," I replied, suppressing a yawn. My God, was I exhausted - how unpleasant. "In the course of time, there were indeed some vampires who were created by a so-called accident..."

"What... what does that mean exactly?"

"That in some way they've taken in a certain amount of vampire blood, even though the vampire hadn't intended on turning them."

Another somewhat shaky breath followed my words. "How much blood does it take for a turning?"

I did not answer immediately, because I was beginning to get the vague impression that these questions were for a good reason and were actually quite important. "Beth... what's this all about? Did something happen to you in my and Mick's absence?"

Beth avoided my gaze and instead looked at Mick's relaxed facial features. Her thumb glided, like many times before, softly along his temple. But I could tell, that something terrible was torturing her. Unfortunately there was no time to inquire further, because I heard a car roll into the parking lot of the motel and stop. I didn't even have to concentrate to know it was Gabriel. Gabriel and someone else, someone I _definitely_ didn't want to have around me at the moment.

Fortunately, the steps of only one person were heard shortly thereafter, heading straight for our door - August had wisely chosen to stay in the car. Now Beth also raised her head and held her breath for a moment. Gabriel didn't knock, but entered without hesitation. He had not yet found time to change his clothes and by the light of dawn and for the first time in hours I saw what severe injuries he must have suffered during the fight. His dark silk shirt had several large holes in the breast and belly area and had been almost completely soaked by his blood. It was a miracle that he had survived such a high loss of blood without serious damage. At some point he had to have quenched his thirst on someone, because he was not as pale as he had been just before he had left us, he looked more rested and balanced than before. It was strange how he was still able to radiate this aura of power and wisdom, he now seemed, to me, like an old confidant that I didn't need to hide my true personality from. Actually I wouldn't have been able to anyway...

"Where are the others?" he asked softly, after he had looked around the room and had eyed up Mick for a few seconds.

"Logan and Seth share the room next door," I explained, trying to hide how tired I was. "And Alejandro and his family are on the other side."

Gabriel nodded and then sat down in the other armchair in our 'luxury suite'. I could see how it was working in his head, how he sorted through the things he wanted to address first, but I couldn't wait.

"How many did we loose?" I simply asked with one of the, for me, more pressing questions.

He looked anything but annoyed at my initiative and gave me a barely visible smile. "The Legion has killed a total of five. Many were injured, but I think they'll survive. On the whole, I think we got away with only a black eye."

Now it was me that nodded. This information was linked to an entirely different, much more important question. "How is... what's their mood after this disaster...?"

Apparently, Gabriel had expected this question, because he answered without hesitation. "I won't lie to you. Of course, most of them are furious and still in shock. And as people and of course also vampires are anyway, they're searching for a scapegoat to blame for all of this…"

Again I nodded. "Me."

"Among others..."

"They better take care and not blame any of this on Mick," I growled, and once again felt anger boiling up in me. "Basically, they have only themselves to blame. _I_ didn't invite them. _They_ poked their noses into the whole affair, wanting to see Mick and decide what to do with him! _They_ made _our_ problem _theirs_ and now they can't live with the fact that everything's more difficult and dangerous than they ever imagined!"

"Josef..." Gabriel raised his hands soothingly. "I know. Believe me, I understand you completely. I know how this community can be. But that doesn't change the fact that we still need them - every single one of them."

I didn't say anything, but leaned back in my chair with a clear expression of disgust. Beth looked again a little concerned at Mick because he had stirred when our voices grew louder. Of course, I didn't want to wake him, but this whole thing was just too upsetting.

"I've dealt with the Legion for a long time...," Gabriel went on much quieter, "and it's been my experience over and over again that one person alone can not stand against them. We can only oppose them as a united community. Only by sticking together and trusting one another, we can hope to damage them enough to force them to negotiate with us."

I uttered a scornful laugh. "Yeah, I've seen what their negotiations look like now..."

Gabriel shook his head. "That wasn't really a negotiation," he said. "Neither side of the Legion has been weakened enough to be forced into negotiations with us yet. Until then, there's a long road ahead..."

"And we'll be on the run the entire time," I added resignedly. Adieu my lovely unrestrained life of wealth and decadence...

"I wouldn't put it that way," Gabriel countered calmly and I frowned not understanding.

"How should I put it then?"

He too leaned back in his chair and for a heartbeat just looked at me broodingly. "What exactly had _you_ planned then, Josef?" He asked bluntly. "From what I've heard about you and experienced personally, it's hard for me to imagine that you hadn't made plans in relation to the Legion. You had a meeting in LA, and certainly you've sat down with your friends, to consider how you would get out of the whole mess. And you have some competent people on your team. So...?" He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

My chest expanded under the deep breath I took, and I glanced over at Beth who nodded encouragingly to me. Apparently her opinion was that we could, from this point on, do nothing better than cooperate with Gabriel.

"It's our feeling that we can succeed in turning the tables on them," I explained.

"To hunt the hunters?"

I nodded. "We wanted to take advantage of the dispute within the Legion and gain information from one side about the other, and that way approach the top of this organization piece by piece..."

"To cut off the serpent's head," Gabriel finished my thought with an appreciative smile.

"The only problem is that our only supposed success so far was in fact a ruse," I added with a gloomy voice, " that the Legion, or more specifically Ritchcroft, has led us around by the nose. The information he provided is probably worthless..."

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that," Gabriel surprised me and his blue eyes sparkled eagerly. "Ritchcroft is a clever man and he knew that only a small mistake in his attempt to get Mick and the professor back, would not only result in failure, but could also cost him his life. He would have been careful not to pass you false information."

I thoughtfully ran my index finger across my lips. "It was mainly information about the experiments with the vampires, which we already had, but also personal files with photos..."

"Can it be that these are perhaps members of the opposing side then?" Beth probed excited. "That would explain why Frank and Mick could only recognize a few of the faces."

This idea caused my heart to take a little leap. It was just too good to be true, because then our plan would still be useful in the end.

"It's quite possible," said Gabriel. "It would definitely be worth looking into." He took a deep breath. "My point is that your approach in tackling all these problems has been very good and largely agrees with my thoughts. There's no use fleeing headless in this situation and hiding out somewhere. This would only make the Legion stronger - no matter how much arguing is going on among them at the moment. Last night, they have in one way been successful, one in which they will grow. They have not only tracked you down, but have also taken Peterson with them – not to mention they've also slaughtered a few not so insignificant vampires from the community. If we give them the feeling that we are afraid of them and we scatter to the winds, they will be able to shake off their own panic and forget completely about negotiating with us – and this would not be good. So we must ensure that all vampires here in LA and if possible, all communities around the whole world, work hand in hand and proceed against the Legion unified. For us this means first and foremost that we must form contacts and exchanges between ourselves much more intensely than practiced during the past centuries. There are a number of powerful vampires in the U.S., which we should visit and ask for their help. I've spoken with Elizabeth, Thomas and Anthony. They will help you with that, Josef. Lance will fly back to Europe and arrange everything else there. At the same time we should put into motion all available resources and people and really begin our hunt for the Legion - to such an extent that this organization will soon know how strong the vampire community actually is. And this isn't going to be so easy if we must, at the same time, pay attention to remaining virtually invisible to the legionaries…"

"Alejandro is an artist at this," I replied, trying to hide from him the excited tingle in my heart his words had caused. "He will be a great support."

I thought the look Gabriel gave me was a bit strange, but he smiled. "I think so too," he agreed. "Together we will indeed find a system we can act fast and effectively with, preferably without getting into greater danger." His look glided over to Mick who really was in an astonishingly deep sleep. Our present, not necessarily very quiet discussion had not been able to wake him up.

"Without running the risk of them getting their hands back on him," Gabriel added much quieter. His eyes wandered over to the coffee table, with the syringe bag and the book and then turned back to me again.

"This leads me directly to our next big problem," he added, and I noticed this topic bothered him much more than our manipulation of the Legion. "There are some things that are still not clear to me yet," he said, looking again at Mick. "And because of that..."

His sentence trailed off. Instead, I suddenly felt an energetic tingling in my veins and the next moment Mick moved, struggled visibly with his drowsy body. After a few more quickly passing seconds, he finally lifted his heavy eyelids, blinked a few times and sat up in a stupor and a little surprised. The fact, that Gabriel was sitting in front of him, confused him clearly and he ran his hands over his face a few times as if by doing so he could remove the last traces of sleep permanently.

"Why... why didn't you wake me up?" There was anger in his slightly scratchy voice, but that did not seem to interest Gabriel particularly.

"Because it's important for you to get your strength back," he replied shortly. "And if possible, without having too use much more of this medicine." His hand made a slight movement in the direction of the syringe bag. "I have only woken you because I absolutely need to know, whether there was any exchange of information between you and the professor, with regard to your development, during the time you were in the labs? Has he told you what you need to do to stop or speed up certain processes in your body? Are you medically aware of all the things that were done to you?"

I felt Mick's aversion to answer these questions. He was not yet ready to open up to Gabriel on this subject; to remember the things that had been done to him in the last year and I could understand it perfectly, although I was aware of how important it was that Mick answered these questions.

"What does... why do you need to know this?" He asked disturbed. "We'll be getting Frank back, regardless, or...?"

"If it's possible, without being killed ourselves," Gabriel responded evasively.

"Where there's a will there's a way," Mick answered. "I need him!"

"This is what I want to become clear about," Gabriel explained calmly. "We might be able to create the formula without him."

"No!" Mick shook his head and stood up. He could apparently endure it no longer to sit quietly opposite the elder vampire. He needed to put more distance between them and walked a few steps away, shaking his head repeatedly. Beth wanted to follow him, but an admonishing look from my direction, stopped her movement.

"I ... I need him," Mick repeated and ran his hand nervously over his lips and chin.

"Do you really?" Gabriel's gaze was examining and my friend could not stand firm. He paced up and down, trying to gain control over his astonishingly violent emotions again.

"I... I owe him this," he finally brought out anxiously. "He saved me from going crazy in there... he ... he was there for me. Without him..." Mick broke off. His concern for the professor was so great and yet it still was not enough to provoke him to talk about the time in the laboratories. "He saved my life..."

"He also experimented on you," I threw in cautiously. "He owed it to you to get you out there."

"No, Josef," Mick disagreed with me in a firm voice, "he saved my life _today_, out in the desert. He has prevented that they could take me again …"

Now I was really confused. My friend himself had freed us both. Frank had not even been present...

"This compound Gallagher injected me with, it... they made it specially for me," Mick explained angrily. "They noticed that I was developing a resistance to silver, and therefore had to create something new, something much more powerful to immobilize me with. This stuff is..." Here again Mick faltered. He closed his eyes and briefly shook his head, probably to expel the memories of its effects. "I had often wondered why Frank's great vitamin and mineral drink tasted so strange and had this calming effect on my body... I'm now sure that he mixed the silver-compound in very small doses into them ensuring that I would become immune to it... Basically, we both owe him our lives, that we're here now and not in one of the labs, Josef."

I could hardly believe what I was hearing, but it made perfect sense. It was just like Frank and it explained why he had insisted that Mick consumed the drink every day. What an amazing man. There could indeed be no greater proof that he really had wanted to make amends for his deeds in the past.

"We owe it to him to bring him back, Josef," Mick added now a bit more calmly. "Quite apart from the fact that I really need him in relation to his medical knowledge."

I looked at Gabriel and was not surprised to see the fascination in his eyes, which seemed to captivate him every time he watched the personal interactions take place between us.

"Mick is right," I said. "I'll understand if you don't want to take part in freeing the professor, but we'll do it. We'll find a way to get the man out of there."

To my surprise, Gabriel nodded, smiling. "Do it," he said. "And if you need anything, you can also turn to me. But Mick..." Gabriel rose in a graceful movement - with a body height such as his it was quite an impressive gesture, "you will not take part in this action for the time being."

Oh, oh, not the right approach for such a stubborn person as Mick.

"Says who?" was promptly the vexed counter-question.

Gabriel let out a little laugh, but it didn't sound true. "You'll come with me for a few weeks..."

"It seems we've had this discussion once before, haven't we?" my friend replied and crossed his arms over his chest in a clearly defensive gesture. I felt the same aversion he did but had not dared voice it yet - just as Beth, whose wide blue eyes revealed that she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Indeed," Gabriel returned totally calm. "But now, after this fight and all I've observed and felt, it seems to me more important than ever that we spend a few weeks alone to make sure you learn how to master the vampire inside you. Without _any_ distractions."

This was a direct dig at Beth who immediately gasped indignantly for air. Once again, I managed to silence her with a penetrating gaze, while my own thoughts tumbled once again. A part of me was upset and angry like Beth, but another, not insignificant part, slowly began to weigh the pros and cons of this idea. Gabriel had proved several times that he had a quite positive and intense influence on Mick's vampire side.

"It is not a matter of separating you indefinitely from your friends, Mick," continued the old vampire urgently. "It won't be more than three weeks, which we will use to support your vampire side so you will be able to move among humans and other vampires without major problems and especially without attracting attention. The point is to give you back your control over this wild side in you and to teach you to use your new powers as effectively as possible. But to accomplish this, we must to go to a place where we are totally alone and have our peace. No distractions, positive nor negative. I want to give you the possibility to concentrate solely on yourself, only you and to learn, without any assistance from outside, how to manage the animal in you."

I could see something change in Mick's posture as he became aware bit by bit what also became evident in my mind quite clearly: Gabriel was offering him exactly what he needed now. A way to test his powers, without endangering the people he loved. To find a balance that he would need to survive. To again gain a foothold in the world he had involuntary left for a year...

For a long time no one spoke a word, for each of us knew there could be only one rational decision. It was Beth who broke the silence, but not with words. She stood up, crossed the room with quick steps, without looking at us and disappeared out the door, slamming it behind her a little too loudly. In Mick's face, immediate remorse and worry was shown and he went after her, but Gabriel was quicker and stopped him at the door.

"Let _me_ talk to her," he said softly. "If I fail, you can still go out and comfort her..."

Mick hesitated obviously, but, in the end, he nodded with restraint. Sometimes it was simpler if others took over the talking, especially when one is as internally troubled as much as my poor friend was. I saw his cheek muscles twitch as Gabriel now left the room, but he did not follow him outside, but let the door close in front of him. Instead, his eyes wandered over to me and gave me an uncertain look.

"It is the right decision, Mick," I said quietly, and knew that these were precisely the words he needed to hear now.

* * *

Beth tried to breathe calmly and evenly to prevent the tears, which were announced by her knotted throat and the burning in her eyes. But it was hard, so damn hard to keep the sadness and anger, which burned along with her irrational and so completely inappropriate defiance inside her, under control. The feeling of having to let go of Mick, the certainty of being separated from him again even for a few weeks after all they had experienced, all they had been through together, was painful, but its effects couldn't compare with the brutal, hard truth which slowly but clearly emerged in her tense mind: The fact that Gabriel wanted to give Mick the opportunity to come, once again, to a place far away from civilization and give his vampire side, finally, after such a long time, the chance to develop, to come to terms with itself, was the best thing that could happen to him in his depressed state. To rebel against this was extremely selfish and unreasonable. And yet she was still not able to fight against her own needs, could barely stand the thought of any barrier coming between them. It just wasn't fair after this long period of anxiety and suffering, struggling and self-restraint. And these knots in her chest which seemed to contract more and more firmly, caused her mind to hurriedly search for a reason why she could not allow Mick to go, why she absolutely had to stay at his side and should not allow Gabriel to care of him.

'We don't even know this man!' a little voice inside her cried. 'Who says he's not following his own very different, selfish plans with this action and in truth doesn't intend to bring Mick back at all? Why would he want to take Mick alone, why doesn't he want any of us come with them?'

Well, he had saved Beth's life at the risk of his own from the bullets of the Legion. That was noble and proved that he knew how important she was for Mick, so he would hardly want to keep her away from him for a long time...

Beth took a deep, heavy breath and sat down on one of the garden chairs, on the porch of the motel in front of several of the rooms. What good were such thoughts, when everyone had decided long ago to follow Gabriel's proposal - including Mick. Basically, it was this that had shaken Beth so hard: That fact that Mick was so quick to leave her and that he would rather accept the care and support of someone he hardly knew.

Of course it was just her own overwrought nerves causing this slightly distorted perception. She knew that Mick didn't really _want_ to leave her. He was doing it to take the burden off her, to protect her. But that didn't ease this terrible feeling of being pushed away and the disappointment, which surged through her body painfully.

She winced slightly when the door of their common room opened, and a tall, dark figure stepped out on the porch. Beth turned her eyes quickly away from Gabriel, crossed her arms over her chest and hurriedly tried to find something else to look at. One of the cacti growing close by suited her purpose very well, for it had adopted a rather peculiar form. It looked almost like a man running.

She heard the old vampire come closer saw from the corner of her eye how he pulled up the other chair close to hers and sat down. She had expected him to appeal to her immediately, but that didn't happen. He was quiet and waited, did not look at her but instead stared out into the slowly emerging dawn.

It was strange, but his present felt good to her, even if he was the person who had caused this emotional mess. There was something about him, something about the way he quietly sat there, something that told her he understood her and felt... her.

The lump in her throat began to grow again; the burning in her eyes became more intense.

"You... you'll bring him back to me healthy again..." Her voice was barely a whisper and terribly scratchy, but he understood her.

"This much and more, Beth," he replied just as softly. "I will fulfill my task and you will fulfill yours and in the end he will be a stable, strong person again, who will be able to decide independently on his future, full of vitality and strength."

Beth tried hard to breathe calmly, but she still could not prevent the tear from rolling down her cheek.

"I know what doubts you have," continued Gabriel. "And I can fully understand them. Mick has been through a lot and is mentally and physically still incredibly unstable, even though it's not often visible on the outside. But you are not the only one who can feel this. I also know how much he needs you, for his soul, for his human side. He has to process so many terrible things, but he will barely be able to build the strength and confidence necessary for it, if he doesn't trust himself, if he doesn't involve the vampire within him, but tries with all his might to be human. But he isn't. He's not a human."

Gabriel paused for a long time. "I can help him to accept this. I can help him to understand that part of his being better than he ever did before. I can even help him to appreciate this side of himself, to use it and control it. But in order to do this, he must get involved in it- completely. He has to _want_ to be a vampire and must not be tempted in remembering how wonderful it is to be a human. He may not be reminded of the most important reason for which he absolutely wants to be human. And that's you... or rather his desire to be together with you, like a normal person, to lead a normal life with you - without fear, without posing a threat to your mental and physical welfare."

Now, Beth turned around to him, looked into these incredible, light blue eyes and was suddenly able to breathe freely, more calmly again. The tormenting clutch of fear and sorrow freed itself from her mind and she realized at once how right Gabriel was with each and every word.

"He can not be himself, cannot take care of his inner turmoil when you are near him, Beth," Gabriel explained. "His only concern then becomes being very close to you, living on your humanity, your warmth and affection and protecting you from all dangers of this world - even if that means struggling against himself. Only he mustn't if he wants to survive in this new form."

Beth closed her eyes for a moment and tried to sort her thoughts. Then she shook her head. "But he has a human side as well. It too needs support and care and..."

"I know this, Beth," Gabriel interrupted gently. "And that's exactly what you'll give him, _after_ these three weeks. He will still need you _very_ much and you'll certainly not have an easy time with him, especially after this guidance back to his vampire self. But we cannot encourage and strengthen his two sides at the same time. It must happen successively and precisely in that order. In this tense situation, with the Legion at our throats, it is extremely important that Mick regains control over his own body and especially his immense powers. Only when he feels strong and whole again, can he control his fears and panic attacks. He can then move confidently among other people and confront the Legion bravely, without being damaged further. And only then he can deliver himself, after all, from his own demons, and begin to process his trauma."

And again this man struck her with his fascinating logic and his astonishing empathy. She would have continued, with pleasure, to work herself up into further disappointment and grief, but Gabriel really left her no room for it. She reached out to that part of her ego which had always lead her so well through her life: to her mind.

Three weeks were really a foreseeable period of time. Josh had sometimes been away even longer and she had been able to bear it without any problems. Well, with Mick it was a very different thing. He had been missing for so long – she had even thought him dead - and she had never loved a man as much as him, but she also knew that with Gabriel he would be in good hands, that there was no other vampire in this world who was as powerful or strong as he was. No one could give Mick that kind of protection he could - not even Josef.

Everything stood or fell with the honesty of this man. Only if this man really stood on their side and risked everything that Mick recovered, remained alive and free - only then the way that they wanted to proceed was now the right one.

Beth took another deep breath, and now sought intimate contact with these beautiful soul piercing blue eyes, to see who he really was, how far she could really trust him and was surprised to see suddenly so much warmth and affection in them.

"If one is as old as I, one sometimes starts to become weary of the life," he said softly, his deep, slightly melancholy voice sending a pleasant shiver down her back. She knew that he was responding to her doubts and indeed wondered whether he could actually read minds or not. Creepy...

"There are just so few things that move me...," he went on with surprising honesty, "can get me out of this rigidity, which has become my second skin. But they exist and when I meet them, they carry me along; they fill me with new life... But this, what I encountered in this small, dilapidated farmhouse, these many small miracles and these incredible emotions... I haven't experienced such things in a very long time, so much... so much love, true love, in so many different forms, for so many different reasons. But always so immensely strong, so intense, so unselfish..." Gabriel shook his head, smiling. "This boy, Logan, I believe is his name... he said something that moved me deeply. He said you belong to the family. And I think that gets to the heart of it. Something has welded you all together, has formed humans and vampires, who are fighting each other, who stand in awe of each other and chased each other for thousands of years, into a unified whole, held together by love. What kind of person would I be if I would destroy something so unique?"

Beth did not answer this question. Not only because she knew that Gabriel was not really waiting for an answer, but also because she was not able to. Her throat was so constricted again and her heart so full of deep, intense emotions, that she could not find the words. She had never thought this way about their little community and now, because she heard it from Gabriel, it touched her so deeply inside, she could barely endure it. She had once said herself to Mick that family wasn't just about DNA and had meant every word seriously. That what had developed between all of them over the strenuous time in the farmhouse in Mexico, proved how right she had been with this assertion. She had grown so fond of these people - with a few exceptions - that she never wanted to miss them again, that she would fight for them, without regard to her own strength and vulnerability. And maybe it was this, that made Mick insist on searching for Frank. The professor had become an important part of their small family. They needed to get him back, no matter what the cost. Wouldn't they do this for each one of them?

Gabriel had no more words to add. He knew their effect, could feel that there was no more reluctance in her with regards to Mick's future, and rose in one fluid movement. For a moment he stood beside her and looked out into the barren landscape. The orange light of the rising sun spilled over his so interesting features, played with the striking contours of his face and was refracted in his bright eyes. And for this short, breath-taking moment this so incredibly beautiful man all at once resembled more a supernatural creature from heaven than a human. Then he turned away silently and the magic was gone.

Beth blinked bewildered a few times and after a few seconds, she noticed that instead of Gabriel another person had appeared on the veranda and looked at her anxiously. Mick. Her Mick. Beth responded from a deep, urgent feeling in her stomach when she simply stood up, hurried to him and enfolded him silently in her arms. This gesture alone was enough to take any tension from him and allowed him to draw a deep breath. His arms closed tightly, very tightly around her body. She felt him press his nose in this so familiar way into her hair, inhaling in her scent deeply, and she wrapped her arms even tighter around him, trying to feel him as intensely as she could.

"Just... hold me, just for a while," she whispered in a husky voice against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Only for a little while..."

Sometimes she just wished that a little while would last forever...


	60. Aftermath

_*__Here it is now the last chapter of Newborn. Always feels a bit weird to post it and know it's now over and ended. I've never ended a story that long before – and now I did it in two languages and I'm pretty proud about that. So in one way it also feels great. I thank all of my review-writers so, so much for their dear words and their support, which made it possible to hang on and finish the translations. You also spurred me to go on writing the sequel and wanting to translate it as well, as I'm doing now. So feel hugged and kissed and I so wish to hear from you again when I start posting 'Blood of the Lily'. And of course my greatest thanks belongs to my dear helpers: the German readers who translated several chapters of the story and my beta readers (especially SG6169 and Jo1027) who made it possible that one could really understand and read the story without any problems. You were just great and I'm so happy to have you in my team again with 'Blood of the Lily'. Concerning the sequel – I hope you don't mind that I need a little break after finishing Newborn. I'm ill again (bronchitis) and I urgently need a rest. But I also have to build a little stock of chapters, translated and beta-read, that I can post again every Thursday and Sunday for a long time. So I think the break will last about two weeks and then I'll start posting 'Blood of the Lily' and hope to see you all again or maybe even more readers who are willing to write a little comment? Would be great and would spur my muse very much. Best wishes, Yours Jenna*_

* * *

**A****ftermath**

It was a strange sight, this new shiny black Mercedes with its tinted windows in this narrow, muddy road; the street framed with two run-down, graffiti-smeared buildings stretching into the dark sky. There was hardly a bright spot. Only the dim light of a broken streetlight at the corner was falling at a sharp angle into the street, revealing the eyes of the people passing the street every now and then, a few overturned garbage cans and their fallen food scraps that a few rats gorged on. The car however stayed hidden from the disgusted gazes of the people hurrying past the street, for it had switched off its headlights and all other interior light sources, except for the red glow of a cigarette glimmering in the backseat of the car.

That dark did not remain for long in the dingy alley for another equally expensive car soon turned the corner, rolled at walking pace over the uneven, patchy cobblestones. The light of its headlights hit the windshield of the parked car and gave a clear view of a young man in a suit on the driver side and another, not so recognizable person in the back of the car. The newly arrived vehicle stopped a good meter before the other one. Then the engine was turned off and a big man in a light coat exited. He had to be about fifty years old, was slim and wearing a neat beard and mustache. His hair was graying but still full and helped to enhance the attractiveness of the strict but expressive face. When the door of the other car opened, the man straightened his shoulders and walked slowly toward the person who heaved himself up from the car with some difficulty. It was another man with silvery hair, but a few years older and far less healthy and mobile. His driver was quickly out and helped him to an upright posture.

"Thank you, my boy," a slightly hoarse voice was saying, and the old man now pushed his driver's supporting hands gently away to turn to his interlocutor, who had stopped a few feet apart from him.

"I'm glad you could find the time to meet with me," he smiled up at the tensed face of his counterpart.

"With great difficulty, Rudolph," the other one said softly. "And only because of our old friendship's sake..."

"I know, I know," nodded the addressed-one understandingly and took a deep, sorrowful breath.

"It's good to still have friends in these difficult times, John."

"What, for heaven's sake, is going on here in LA, Rudolph?" asked the younger one now a bit more strictly. "Murders, attacks and again and again vanishing evidence. I know this handwriting... and then you call me suddenly... I thought you wanted to retire some time ago!"

Rudolph uttered a soft laugh, which made his whole bony, decrepit body quaking. "I've tried to, my friend. You know this - a few problems come up, some of which are a bit complicated and difficult and instantly they cling to your coattails, and want your help and support, even if you're barely able to creep and just want to die in peace and quiet."

"You say that as if there were no serious problems," John said in a tone that made clear that he wouldn't believe this statement to be true.

"Oh, the problems_ are_ serious, really serious," the old man confessed immediately. "But I simply have no energy left to get worked up over them."

"There's a rumor that your organization has split up and now even fights itself," John added.

Rudolph nodded sadly. "It was bound to happen someday. Over the past few years there have been so many changes. And it simply runs in the blood of some of us to go after fame and power. We old folks hadn't been a real counterforce in the past. These... all these conflicts and different attitudes at some point _had_ to erupt into a huge explosion. Only the timing is quite bad..."

"You have to come to grips with that again," John cautioned him and looked at him intensely. "I've looked away too many times now, tried to keep the investigation proceedings away from you and give you space to do your work. Those were friendly turns, Rudolph; friendly turns for your sake. But if the _Legion_ no longer exists as a unified organization and its top leadership has no control over its subgroups, I cannot continue to ignore their actions. Especially not when the combat operations take on scales that amount to a war!"

Rudolph nodded understandingly. "Then the reports on the disaster in Mexico got through to you also."

"Fortunately, Baja California is found outside the United States," John added. "But this development really scares me. This must stop. Otherwise I will pull all the stops out to force your organization out once and for all, at least here in the U.S. You know that I'm capable of doing that."

"Of course, and that's why I'm here." The old man drew a deep breath again. "There's a way to end it all quickly ... I need to find just one person, then I can rapidly take the necessary actions to urge these misguided sheep back into the gate. However, this will take some time... "

"You're asking me for a grace period?" John looked questioningly at his friend and again his opposite nodded.

"How long?"

"Three or four months."

John contracted his brows thoughtfully. "This is a fairly long period."

"... which can be easily reduced, if we have found the man."

"How can just _one_ man drive such a well-structured and rigorously administrated organization as yours that mad?" John asked incredulously.

"This is the question I've been asking myself over and over again, John," said Rudolph, with a small smile. "And I'll find out."

Again, the other one remained silent for a moment, thinking hard. "Well, I'll grant you this period of time, but only under the condition that you will now continue much more discreetly than before. If there's another performance like the one in Mexico I'll personally set the military on you."

"It won't happen again," the old man said now, and John immediately looked a lot more satisfied.  
"And don't even think about asking me for help in finding this man. I don't want to be linked with that, no matter what crimes he has committed," he added, and Rudolph immediately raised his hands soothingly.

"I will take good care not to do that!"

"Good." For a long moment John looked at his old friend again, examined his flabby face, rutted with wrinkles. "I'll see you then...," he said softly, then turned away and went with flying steps over to his car. He opened the door to the backseat, but then stopped and gave Rudolph a warm smile. Then he disappeared in the car nimbly.

The road was too narrow to turn round there, and so the car just backed slowly. In the light of the flashing headlights the young driver helped the old man carefully back into the other car. He closed the door quietly behind him, then got in himself and started the engine. Slowly the car moved down the street and let everything behind it sink into utter darkness - a darkness that made it impossible for its occupants to notice the movement on one of the fire escapes at one of the adjacent buildings. They failed to notice the shadow that broke away from the wall, jumped with feline ease over the railing of the ladder and silently landed with a wavering coat many feet below without struggling for balance. This was all the more surprising because this ghostly person was wearing boots with high stiletto heels. But she straightened up with a graceful motion, threw her dark, wavy hair over her shoulders, and pursed her full lips. In her big brown eyes deep concern was written and she finally reached into the pocket of her silky coat, pulled out a cell phone and quickly chose a number. There was no greeting on her lips, as someone at the other end of the line answered.

"There will be a few more problems," she whispered with a peculiarly melodious voice into the micro. "We need to meet - now."

Then she hung up, also saving the parting words. Her eyes flew briefly over the damaged, cold walls of the houses and then down the street. Only a few seconds later, she moved in an unnatural smoothness towards the street corner and disappeared, as well as the two cars earlier, into the evening bustle of the city. Left behind were only the rats searching in the darkness of the alley for food and hardly guessing what troubled times were dawning.


End file.
